Last week in Detroit, he met with a longtime member of the grounds crew who worked at Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park.

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The Tigers gave Rivera, who Leyland said was the best closer of all time, a plaque with pictures of him pitching in Detroit along with dirt from Comerica Park and Tiger Stadium.

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Cars honked, people posed with the giant Tiger in front of the park, and cops looked on with little to do except smile.

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He said the Sumatran tiger, which has lived at the park for 10 years since it was a cub, would not be destroyed.

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In addition to the world's biggest airport, largest man-made islands, longest indoor ski slope and some of the biggest shopping malls and hotels anywhere, it is also building a mega theme park, Dubailand, which consists of some 45 separate projects, including such brand-name attractions as Legoland, a Tiger Woods golf course, a Six Flags fun fair, a Formula One park, and themed attractions from DreamWorks (a Hollywood film studio) and Marvel Comics.

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This perhaps explains why Pench Tiger Reserve, 140km to the south, also vies for the title of Jungle Book territory, while Satpura National Park, 300km to the west, is a core habitat for the utterly delightful sloth bear (Baloo from the stories), with a few also found in Kanha.

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