By JOHN NIYO
The Detroit News

DETROIT - When he signed on in November 2001 as president of the Detroit Tigers, Dave Dombrowski understood the many challenges he faced.

Well, all but one, perhaps: The cavernous left field in Comerica Park.

"I have to admit, I didn't realize what a hot-button issue it was until it was the second question I was asked at my first press conference," Dombrowski said. "It was 'How does it feel to be here?' and then 'Are you going to move the left-field fences in or not?' "

Finally, Dombrowski can answer both questions with a smile and a nod. As the Tigers began spring training in Lakeland, Fla., last month under new Manager Alan Trammell, some 1,200 miles to the north, workers were busily constructing a new wall at Comerica Park.

Three years after the $300 million ballpark made its debut, the Tigers' spacious home field is undergoing a major renovation, one that comes at am estimated cost of nearly $200,000.

A new left-field wall is expected to be in place by March 15, and when the Tigers take the field for their home opener March 31, right-handed hitters will have a new, reachable target.

"I think it played with your mind as a hitter," Damion Easley said. "You shouldn't be thinking about how hard you had to hit a ball, or how far, but it was difficult not to. That's going to be different now."

The distance from the plate to the left-center field wall will be 370 feet, not the 395 feet it was in the park's first three seasons. That compares favorably - for hitters, at least - with Tiger Stadium's left-center power alley of 365 feet.

Comerica Park's other dimensions will remain the same - 345 to the left-field foul pole, 420 to center, 365 to right-center and 330 to right.

"It still will be a big ballpark," Dombrowski said. "Its not like, by shortening the fences in left, were creating a hitters paradise, either."

But the new wall in left should go a long way in silencing some of the criticism of the original stadium design, one that had right-handed hitters shaking their heads in disgust after many at-bats.

"It just seemed to me that the ballpark didn't present a fair game for the players," Dombrowski said. "There are ballparks that have big areas, but for a right-handed hitter ... it was just not fair. And it gets to a point where you start to take the heart out of your hitters, too. They hit the ball well and it's a sure out."

It didn't take Dombrowski long to figure that out last season, one in which the Tigers - not blessed with a powerful lineup to begin with - struggled to score runs at home. The Tigers were last in the major leagues in run production at home, averaging 3.4 a game. The team also was last in the league in slugging percentage (.379) and home runs (123) last season. In fact, two American League teams - Texas and the Chicago White Sox - both hit more than twice as many home runs in their home park than the Tigers.

And it wasn't until the final home stand of the season that a left-handed hitter - Minnesota's Jacque Jones - managed to hit a home run to left field.

Of course, by that time, Dombrowski and others in the Tigers front office already had made up their minds.

Something new

One day last August, Dombrowski, owner Mike Ilitch and advisers Al Kaline and Willie Horton had a temporary fence erected in left field, just to get a sense of where a new wall needed to be. In September, the fence was put up again so the Tigers hitters could try it out in batting practice.

"I think it cost a lot of us home runs the way it was," catcher Brandon Inge said. "Moving them in just made sense."

Soon after, digital cameras were installed in the left-field bleachers. Bill MacAdam, founder and president of Friendlystreet LLC, had approached the Tigers early last year about planning the stadium changes. His company used virtual-reality modeling to help the Tigers decide on fence height and other specifics with the project.

The new fence will stand 6 feet, 10 inches, the same as the fence at Tiger Stadium -a nod to history, perhaps, but also to fan sight lines at Comerica Park.

Dombrowski said the club will try to accommodate any season-ticket holders wanting to move as a result of the left-field changes.

"But as it turns out, the views are actually better," MacAdam said. "Before, if you were in the third or fourth row in left field and the play was at the base of the old wall, you couldnt see it. Now you can see everything."

Alberici Constructors, a St. Louis-based company with an office in Livonia, is handling the construction of the new wall, a chain-link fence that runs a straight line from the left-field foul pole to the flagpole in deep left-center. The flagpole was in play in the original ballpark configuration, but now will be behind the fence.

There are no plans for that area behind the new fence, though other parks have used such space for bullpens and family picnic patios, among other things.

"We've talked a lot about it," Dombrowski said. "But we came to the general conclusion of 'Let's get the fence up, let's watch the games played and then let's make decisions after we've seen it in play. We're not even close to making any type of decisions out there."

And as for possibly bringing in the fences in center field as well?

"I would never say its impossible," said Dombrowski, who admittedly prefers a bigger ballpark. "But it has not been something that we've talked about at this point."

Protective padding will cover the new fence posts, the top of the fence and the lower half, leaving rectangular windows. Advertising from the old wall will be kept on the bottom half of the new fence.

The bulk of the project actually involved underground work with the drainage system and sprinklers, as well as re-grading the field and putting in a new warning track in front of the fence.

"One of the interesting things about working with the Tiger organization now is they really have a lot of baseball people in there," said Paul Lemley, Albericis senior vice president and a Comerica Park suite holder. "And their attitude is very much, 'What's this going to do to the game - for the players and for the fans?

"I think the fans are going to be happy with what they see - they're going to have the opportunity to enjoy the game a bit more. I don't think we can change the fact that the stadium is not very intimate, but at least you'll be seeing some baseball with a little more action."