There’s one night at Comerica Park when everyone is Polish!
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Polish Americans in Detroit love to celebrate their heritage with singing, dancing, and food, so it’s no surprise they have their own annual night of festivities at Comerica Park! Polish-American Night is a combination of Polish heritage pride and a tribute to the great contributions made to the United States by Polish-Americans. This includes honoring outstanding Polish-American athletes. This special celebration was begun by Leon Zarski at the old Tiger Stadium and continues at Comerica Park. Leon Zarski, a resident of Hamtramck, was an elementary school teacher, sportsman and a prolific composer. His love for Polish traditions inspired him to organize the first Polish-American Night in 1971 at Tiger Stadium. In addition to a baseball game, the event featured polka music, folk dancing, kielbasa, and a ceremony recognizing current Polish-American Tigers. It was a huge success and gave Polish Daily News sports writer Ed Browalski an idea to start the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.
Since 1973 Polish-American athletes from all over North America representing different sports have been inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. The very first inductee was none other than one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Stan “the Man” Musial, who batted for the Cardinals for 22 seasons. Stan Musial, together with another baseball giant, the slugger Ted Kluszewski, and the pitcher Frank Tanana, are among 33 baseball players inducted so far into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. Everyone is Polish on this special night hosted early in the season by the Detroit Tigers and supported by many Polish-American fraternal organizations. Free kielbasa is not offered any more with the price of admission, but in addition to Polish dancing, music and food, the attendees also enjoy post-game fireworks. Many baseball fans proudly display their ethnic heritage and showcase passionate support for the Tigers by wearing red. The game is always a sellout and now other Major League Baseball teams across America are duplicating what Leon Zarski started in Detroit in 1971.
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Comerica Park is the home of the Detroit Tigers. It took over from Tiger Stadium in 2000. Comerica is located downtown, where most of the other professional Detroit-affiliated sports stadiums are located. The neighborhood and stadium are not associated with any one ethnicity, but Polish Americans of Detroit have successfully carved out a place for their heritage in Tiger history. In 1971, Leon Zarski, an elementary school teacher and music composer founded the first annual Polish-American Night at Tiger Stadium. Zarski was from Hamtramck, a small city within Detroit’s boundaries that is known for its Polish community. Zarski was proud of his heritage and loved using traditional Polish themes in his musical compositions. He thought Tiger Stadium might be a good venue to celebrate Polish heritage, so he organized for musicians and dancers to entertain the fans while they ate Kielbasa. The Polish American Tigers were present with plaques. The traditional entertainment of singing and dancing continues annually to this day, but spectators have to supplement their Kielbasa fix with concession stand food, and the recognition of Polish American sports stars continues but in a different way.
Polish Daily News sports writer Ed Browalski was at the first Polish American Night, and he was inspired by the plaque ceremony to create a Polish American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Instead of only recognizing Tigers with Polish heritage, Browalski wanted to celebrate Polish-American athletes and even NASCAR drivers from all over the United States. Several awards are giving out at the American Polish Cultural Center in Troy instead of at Comerica Park. Steve Gromek, Ron Perranoski, Barney McCosky, Frank Tanana, Alan Trammell are the only baseball players out of 33 total that played for the Tigers at one point or another. Even though the Polish-American Sports recognition is no longer explicitly connected with the Tigers, Polish American Night continues every year. One special night per year, Tigers fans get to be entertained by traditional Polish dancers and singers before the game. The American and Polish national anthems are sung. For one night per year, everyone in the stadium is Polish!