The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark

As a child growing up in the Detroit area, Tom Stanton dreamed about attending every home game of his beloved Tigers. When the dreaded news game that 1999 would be the team's final season in historic Tiger stadium, he decided to make that dream come true. What emerged was much more than just a game-by-game chronicle of what was, on the field anyway, a rather dreary season.This book celebrates the stadium as a place that spanned the generations for countless players and fans. It's about the traditions that tie family and friends together; it's about life, love, loss...all the things in life that truly matter. You'll share this season with Tom, his aging father, and a cast of wonderful people he encounters during that summer, including Al Kaline, Ernie Harwell, Alice Cooper, Al the Usher and dozens more."The Final Season" won an award as best baseball book of the year. I hope you'll open these pages and learn why.

I attended dozens of ballgames at Tiger Stadium, mostly in the late 70s and early 80s. I saw my first ever major league game at Tiger Stadium in 1972, with my father and grandfather (the first and likely the only time I will have attended a ballgame with three generations of family represented) and was instantly in awe of the place. It struck me as being an enchanting world unto itself.Tom Stanton's book captures brilliantly the atmosphere of this grand old ballpark -- the people who worked and played there, the eccentric, asymmetrical features of the field and the stadium, the crumbling neighborhood around Michigan and Trumble, and the eternal voice of the Tigers, Ernie Harwell. Mr. Stanton cares a lot about the game of baseball, the Tigers, and the Stadium; he is also quite conscious of the value that baseball, and attending games, can have on members of a family. The book holds recollections that are sometimes joyous, sometimes melancholy and bittersweet; I am certain that Mr. Stanton has portrayed his own family story as it relates to Tiger Stadium with honesty and compassion.Anyone who ever had a chance to see a game at the ballpark will want to read this book. Those of us who spent many happy hours at Tiger Stadium really miss the place. Mr. Stanton's book helps to keep its memories alive.

My son, my husband and I read this book over the weekend, mostly aloud, as part of a school joint project. It was recommended by someone at the bookstore. He is 14 and a true lover of baseball, as is his father. He generally is not a big reader, but all of us enjoyed this book tremendously. Each of us on different levels, and for different reasons. I found it enlightening as a mom, not quite getting the whole baseball thing completely. My husband and son really enjoyed theaccounts of the game and the baseball history. I thought the writing was easy to read, and the reminiscing about his dad and family related to Tiger Stadium and baseball very touching and insightful. I hope to read it again, by myself. It was a great book!

This is a great book about family and the emotional pull that a sports stadium can have on a lifelong fan. I can identify with Mr. Stanton's emotions because I went through the closing of my baseball cathedral last year - Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Certainly Three Rivers didn't have the rich history and longevity of Tiger Stadium. Nor did it have the charm. But the best memories I have of my dad are going to Pirates games with him and cheering for the Battlin' Bucs.I've read 10 to 15 baseball books this year and I have to rank this number one. The strength of this book is that it's never sappy or maudlin. Mr. Stanton perfectly captures the essence of why millions of adults care so much about this great game.

This is a wonderful book from a small-town journalist who can still be star-struck around his heroes. It's just what the title says. The author went to all 81 games of the last season (1999) at Tiger Stadium. (My wife -- one of his college journalism instructors -- and I were also at the last opener -- top row, upper deck near third base). But the book is about memories, not the games themselves -- of the author and his father and brothers and uncles and sons at the ballpark and playing ball in general. And he talks to everyone from Ernie Harwell to peanut vendors, from ballplayers to fans. Perfect for sons to recall memories of going to ball games with their dads. And a perfect gift for Father's Day. Highly recommended.