Fans snatch Tiger Stadium memorabilia

Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Tab Thrun walked out of Tiger Stadium with bricks, a smoking section sign and two signs informing readers that beer is not sold after the seventh inning.

The $250 haul was well worth the price, said Thrun, a 48-year-old Ypsilanti resident.

"I have memories," Thrun said, clutching the tile-trimmed bricks that would have been used on the exterior of the stadium at Trumbull and Michigan Avenue. "They will look great in my yard."

Detroit sold seats and auctioned signs and other items from inside the ballpark so fans could have something to remember it by, city officials said.

People who purchased items in the auction could begin picking them up today. But many collector items remain for sale, including seat backs, signs, newspapers and bricks. People who want to buy leftover items can just stop by the stadium near Gate 8 and make an offer.

Items bought through the auction can be picked up through Halloween. The other items will be sold until they run out, said Dan Rosenthal, chief operations manager for St. Louis-based Schneider Industries, which is handling the sales and conducted the auction.

Seats sold for more than $2 million, but the city will only make about $400,000 off the sales because of shipping and labor costs, Rosenthal said. The auction brought in another $192,000. The money will be used to help raze the stadium.

Jeff Bolton ordered a Ladies Room sign that would go perfectly with the retro bar he has in his home. But the sign could not be found Tuesday. So the 50-year-old Melvindale resident purchased ones about beer not being sold after the seventh inning.

"They will go in my sports bar at home," he said. "I'm hoping they find my other sign. It had a real retro look."

Tiger Stadium closed in 1999. The Tigers now call Comerica Park, opened the following year, home.

Richard Pickering, a 65-year-old Attica resident, said he drove 50 miles to buy a sign. He remember marching in a high school band for Detroit Lions games held at the stadium and said any items sold will help him preserve the stadium's place in history.

"It is a memory for me," he said. "I loved the Tigers, especially the teams in the 1960s."