This is a can't-miss memoir for Tigers' fans who have fond memories of Tiger Stadium, as well as anyone whose team and civic loyalty was passed down through the DNA of multiple generations. That spirit blossomed later for me than for many, but its roots are the same. Of course, one's passion for this memoir will depend on one's love of the Tigers and/or Detroit, but Stanton builds his account of Tiger Stadium's final season through vignettes of people from all walks of life whose paths crossed at The Corner in 1999. The first Tigers game I took my son to see (and the baseball game from which come my most treasured ballpark photos of him) unfolds in these pages. There's no specific mention of a pudgy little toddler in a red shirt and beige baseball cap atop his father's shoulders to watch the Tigers take on the Mariners while Mark Fidrych signs autographs on the concourse, but I could see us in the background, enraptured by the game.

Tom Stanton's THE FINAL SEASON is a finely written and evocative account of the author's experience in attending all 81 home games of the Detroit Tigers' 1999 baseball season--the final year that the team played in Tiger Stadium. The book is about much more than baseball. Stanton attends most of the games with his father, a lifelong Tigers' fan, and the book reveals how rooting for a particular team--especially a team that is connected to the traditions and history of a neighborhood and city--is an act of devotion that creates relationships like those that exist in families. The book is filled with wonderful anecdotes about players, games, fans, and Detroit, but Stanton's main focus is on family traditions--and how one deals with the inevitable losses that everyone faces during a lifetime. Stanton's style is clean and free of excessive hyperbole or philosophy. The book should appeal to anyone who likes baseball and appreciates the way the game bonds people together.

An interesting account of the final season at Tiger Stadium. The author attends all 81 home games. He uses the pages to detail people who work in and around the stadium, his family history and it's love of baseball. He includes the final score and his impressions of every game during the last season.

This book provided me with the inspiration to embark on a similar project of my own.

I read this book as a Valentine’s Day Gift to myself, my dad, and my love of baseball.

In the book the author tells his family story in a way reminiscent to me of The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom; however the “house” is Tiger Stadium not a Yellow house in New Orleans as in Sarah’s book. For me the work is very rich in planting seeds, (early in the season) and paying off at the end.

Here is an example. Early on in the book we meet Howard Stone who has parking lots adjacent to Michigan and Trumbull. The character comes up from time and again and is there at game 81. That is not the only character we meet. There are a handful of recurring characters that I grow to know, understand, and appreciate over the course of the season.

I love how the author described meeting his boyhood idol Al Kaline. The detail included about how as a child they thought alkaline batteries were named after him was so magical. It was also refreshing that the experience was favorable.

The author didn’t tackle race in this book and I think that is to its detriment. Especially for a city, Detroit, that dealt with the 1967 riots, a white, Polish, author in a city where black people are now the majority there could have been more care and thought given to the racial components of baseball/ fathers and sons/ and Tiger Stadium. In addition, even class or identity could have been handled more broadly. I wanted to know the why behind the author’s name change. His grandfather was Stankiewicz but his name is Stanton. I wanted that story but it was not here.

Throughout the book the author had a skill for the poetic and no lines were better for me than on page 235:

“Something sad happens to memories as our loved ones die off. Our pool of stories evaporates like salted water on a stove. We remember many, of course, and we add our own. But others are lost forever. “


I highly recommend this book. As I read the Final Season I too saw by capturing the moment these memories have life for as long as we have the work with us.

Perfectly nostalgic. I miss this stadium.

A touching book that entwines family, baseball, and a ballpark. I thought it was just sentimental enough.

My first book.

An enjoyable read for any baseball fan who appreciates not only the history of the game, but has experienced the threads that sport can create within a family. The author uses the final season of the Detroit Tigers playing at Tiger Stadium to reflect on the stadium, the community it created, and how the team played a role in his family life for several generations. The final chapter is particularly touching.

This is a good book about a Tigers' fan who attends every home game of the last season in which baseball was played at the old Tiger Stadium, intertwined with stories about his family. I would think it would have a fairly limited audience. I, of course, loved it. Because my dad taught me to love baseball and the Tigers. Because he taught me to keep score, which I still do at every game. Because I remember transistor radios. Because I loved Tiger Stadium. Because Al Kaline was my hero growing up. Because my friends and I thought the same as the author about alkaline batteries. Because I, too, was at the game honoring Kaline, and kept my poster for many years. Because even though I am 10 years older than the author, I remember every touch point about the Tigers that he listed. Because I own a customized Harwell jersey. Because my sons never felt about baseball like I do. Because I remember my last trip to the old park. Because I miss my dad.

A must read for all Tiger fans

Was a really good read. Moving and touching about the final season at Tiger stadium. A gem of a book that I will reread every beginning of baseball season! If you are A Tiger's fan - read this book!

A must read for any Tigers fan born before 1990 (i.e. anyone who remembers attending a game at Tiger Stadium with their dad). My dad and I both read this when we were in Lakeland, FL for Tigers spring training and couldn't put it down.