Sports ally! Bacb, F o;e Woe arei rtttp../IVVV, cyber corn loshcane mart dello 01 n te3 In Iowa- to oive to .loilsb char:os? CK.1 ot.,1 i .net te■ Tiger Stadium continues to be a un6ing force for many. rv;20 0 '1 es watta vonyvtor 0 No qive other,in e (-) wou,drit Family Memories Abound 296 Pr.l.ans tottonse btn, www.detroittiewts www.detrertjewishnew vvvvvv.detroitewishnewsxo www,detroitiewishnewsocom ww.detroitiewishnews.corn i s Ga e a [www.detrottiewishnewsxom [www.detroitiewashnews.comj r www.detroitjewishnews.com ] [www.detroitiewishnews.coni troitiewishnews,corn] ws.corn] 11/5 1999 110 Detroit Jewish News camped underneath, pound- here is a differ- ed my glove ready to make ence between the play. house and home. "Don't worry, son; I'll get it A house is a place for you," Dad said, jumping to live, but it might not be to his feet. The ball came home. down, right toward his out- For me, home is place of stretched hands. He was tall warmth, of family bonds and could reach higher than and personal moments. anyone. He dropped it. Thus, many places can be I remember this not home — even those where because he missed the ball — E RIC we never lived. hey, Kaline dropped a few, BEND EROFF Recently, I returned to too — but because it was the Spec ial to one of those special places only time I was ever disap- the Jew ish News — for the last time. pointed in my dad. I've lived in Chicago my His error was forgiven a few adult life, but I was raised in subur- moments later when be bought me a ban Detroit. My family still lives there hot dog and an official American league and I probably don't go back as often baseball. We played catch with it the as I should. next day. Throughout his life, he always I went to say goodbye to Tiger knew how to make things better. Stadium, where generations of fami- My mother was with me in lies have created special memories. September at the last game at Tiger Much has been written about the Stadium. We didn't sit together for the passing of this treasured ballpark. But game (fittingly, she had the good seats), sitting in the sunshine with eyes that but we sat together and reminisced dur- wandered across the impossibly green ing the parade of former and present grass, I recalled how important this Tiger players. We talked about the play- decaying stadium was for so many ers of the '30s and '40s — she went to families, mine included. those games with her dad. That's why it felt like going home. She tells me that when I was 4, and The memories of games past and the Tigers were playing in the 1968 the people I went with filled the after- World Series, she took me to each noon. I thought of my dad, who often home game. I don't remember, but took me to games. When we had bad I'm certain my passion for the ball- park was planted then. seats, he always tipped the ushers to move us into the best seats. My mom and I attended nearly every It is at Tiger Stadium where I have opening day throughout my childhood. She said it was okay to miss school for my most vivid childhood memory of the start of the baseball season. Dad. I was about 8 and brought my Al Kaline signature glove. We were She sat with me during the 1972 sitting 10 rows behind the visitors' playoffs against the Oakland A's when dugout. A foul ball came our way. I the great Tiger pinch hitter Gates Brown hit a long fly ball, caught in deep center field, to end my first Eric Benderoff is the real estate editor meaningful baseball season. for the Chicago Sun Times. He is the We saw Kirk Gibson's first major son of Beverly Benderoff and the late league hit together. We watched Mark Larry Benderoff and a graduate of "The Bird" Fidrych pat the pitcher's Southfield-Lathrup High School and mound and talk to the ball together, Michigan State University. The ultimate While I can't remember if the fate of Tiger Stadium, now owned by Tigers won or lost most of those the city of Detroit, has not been decided.