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Tiger Stadium's Walls Are Falling

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The Associated Press

Published: July 10, 2008

DETROIT - Demolition crews smashed the historic walls of Tiger Stadium on Wednesday, punching through to the interior of the ballpark that stood for decades.

Outfield walls cleared by baseball legend Mickey Mantle as well as Detroit Tiger sluggers Norm Cash and Cecil Fielder began to come down as contractors intensified their efforts to bring down the venerable park.

Backhoes and excavators, sometimes hard to see through dust and spraying water, whizzed around the site, picking up debris and dumping it in oversized bins. During one flurry Wednesday morning, an excavator smashed through the exterior wall beyond left field, throwing support girders to the side.

The scene was tough to take for longtime Tigers fan Chas Matreal and his 23-year-old son, Ryan.

"All beautiful memories," Chas Matreal said. "It is something beautiful that we're destroying, and it's history."

The 49-year-old bricklayer from Milford said he attended 400 to 500 games at Tiger Stadium, many with his own father, starting in 1966.

"Demolition means progress," declared signs on a construction vehicle at the site. But Matreal disagreed, saying priceless memories are being lost.

"It's a natural museum of a hundred years that they're destroying," he said.

Robert Neil, 42, also stopped to take a look at the demolition. The Detroit native worked at Tiger Stadium as a crowd manager from 1996 until it closed in 1999. The Tigers moved into Comerica Park in 2000.

"My microwave oven is still in there, for all I know," he said.

ASTROS: Second baseman Kazuo Matsui was activated from the 15-day disabled list and was back in the starting lineup Wednesday night, and pitcher Chad Reineke was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.

BLUE JAYS: Placed pitcher Dustin McGowan (right shoulder soreness) on the 15-day disabled list and recalled reliever Brian Wolfe from Triple-A Syracuse.

DODGERS: Don Mattingly will resume his duties as Dodgers hitting coach after the All-Star break. Mattingly, hired as part of new manager Joe Torre's staff during the offseason, asked to be switched from hitting coach to major league special assignment coach, citing family reasons. Mike Easler, who has filled in as hitting coach on an interim basis, will remain with the Dodgers organization in another capacity.

Also, the Los Angeles Coliseum unveiled a plaque for Walter O'Malley, who moved the Brooklyn Dodgers west in 1958 to play at the Coliseum until Dodger Stadium opened in 1962.

INDIANS: Purchased right-hander Juan Rincon's contract from Triple-A Buffalo. Rincon started the season in Minnesota.

NATIONALS: Outfielder Elijah Dukes underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday. Dukes, who is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks, had two small meniscus tears repaired by Koco Eaton in Tampa.

ROCKIES: Placed outfielder Ryan Spilborghs (strained left oblique) on the 15-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Seth Smith from Triple-A Colorado Springs.

WHITE SOX: Placed closer Bobby Jenks on the 15-day disabled list and purchased right-hander D.J. Carrasco's contract from Triple-A Charlotte. Jenks has bursitis near his left (non-pitching) shoulder.

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