Capitalizing on the fact that 1999 will be the final year of professional baseball at Detroit's historic intersection of Michigan and Trumbull, A Place For Summer illustrates the over one hundred years of baseball at The Corner. Beginning in 1896 at Bennett Park, Bak covers the team and park's fortunes through the eras of the Navin and Briggs families, through the staid, conservative tone of the John Fetzer era, through the neglect of the Tom Monaghan years (it's incredible how a few years of neglect can doom a franchise for over a decade), and to the present optimism of the Mike Ilitch regime. The close relationship between the status of the city and that of the team is well noted.

Ty Cobb scores the very first run at Navin Field, 1912, stealing home
on Cleveland catcher Ted Blankenship

Adding significantly to the flavour of the book are over 200 photographs of the park, it's surroundings, and the events which have shaped it's identity. It's fascinating to see that the park looks today almost exactly as it looked when it was completely double-decked in 1938. Included among the many photos are shots of several of the game's greats, including Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams. One picture of the irascible Cobb pleasantly holding a baby in the Tiger dugout is almost worth the price of the book all by itself.

At times, Bak goes into great detail on the specific accomplishments of Tiger teams and players, which only true Detroit fans could appreciate. But, as it is the park's events which have created its reputation, some amount of detail is warranted. The club's often stormy relationship with the city's black community, which is an important part of the team's past and present, is glossed over to an extent. A chapter on the football Lions' use of Tiger Stadium seems somewhat out of place, but is nonetheless a part of the park's lore.

On a scale of 1 to 10, based on text alone, I give A Place For Summer a 7, but the photography bumps the rating to a 8.5.

A Place For Summer may be available for purchase on the net at one of these sites.

--Canuck, March 6, 1999