Tigers' Comerica Park was last MLB stadium with this playing feature. Now it's gone
The Detroit Tigers have eliminated the keyhole path from Comerica Park's field, team officials confirmed Wednesday.
The keyhole, a quirk at Comerica Park, has been filled in with grass based on feedback from "uniformed personnel" — the players and coaches — to make that area uniform with all other parks, according to team officials.
At the annual “What’s New” at Comerica Park media event, Ryan Gustafson, president and CEO of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, commented on two changes at the ballpark.
“It was a pretty easy one to be honest with you,” Gustafson said. “Players asked for it and that’s what happened. It something that we were the last (MLB) ballpark in America to have that.
"We try to do everything we can to listen to our players every season and make adjustments that make sure that’s the right environment for them and that was a request from them.”
Gustafson said the team decided to to remove the old Tigers sign above the left-field scoreboard and replace it with a Comerica Park sign.
“The old Tigers sign had reached its end of life and needed to be decommissioned and pulled down," he said. "With all the new capability, the video board and the control room we’ve invested that can create a lot more sign opportunities than we've ever had."
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The keyhole path is the strip of dirt that runs from the pitching mound to the home plate area. It dates to the 1800s when the mound was a patch of flat dirt and when fields were shared with cricket pitches that featured the path.
The Tigers were the last team to use the feature on the field since the Arizona Diamondbacks removed it from Chase Field in 2019 because the facility was switching to a synthetic turf field.
These changes are actually small compared to all the other changes at Comerica Park, including a new sound system and scoreboard. Those changes were spurred by feedback from fans.
In addition, the aesthetic behind home plate will look different with new club seating, the wall behind home plate has changed and the umpire tunnel has been removed.
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