1948 Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961) was the last ballpark in the American League to add night games. Team owner Walter Briggs was a traditionalist and believed baseball should be played in daylight, but he finally relented and eight light towers were affixed to the stadium. This aerial view documents the Tigers’ first night game on June 15, 1948. Apparently, Detroiters liked being night-owl fans; a crowd of 54,480 showed up that evening to see the Bengals trounce Philadelphia, 4-1. The Tiger roster that year included Dizzy Trout, Virgil Trucks, Eddie Mayo, and third baseman George Kell, who, beginning in 1957, launched a long career as a play-by-play announcer, with most of those years spent calling games for the Tigers in his signature Arkansas drawl.
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