I know we have more accomplished historians in this league than me, so I'd ask them to add to this post. Ernie was a true Gentleman of the game.
Ernie Harwell, the longtime Tigers Hall of Fame broadcaster beloved by generations of fans who grew up listening to his rich voice, died yesterday after a months-long battle with cancer. He was 92.
Harwell, who called Tigers games for four-plus decades and was acquired by the Brooklyn Dodgers for a catcher, announced in September that he had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the bile duct. Harwell died at his home in Novi, Mich., about 30 miles northwest of Detroit. He spent 42 of his 55 years in broadcasting with the Tigers. He was their play-by-play radio voice from 1960-1991 and 1993-2002.
The team and its flagship radio station, WJR, allowed his contract to expire after the 1991 season in what became a public-relations nightmare. When Mike Ilitch bought the franchise from Tom Monaghan, he put Harwell back in the booth in 1993. Harwell chose to retire after the 2002 season.
His big break came in unorthodox fashion. Brooklyn Dodgers radio broadcaster Red Barber fell ill in 1948, and general manager Branch Rickey needed a replacement. After learning the Atlanta Crackers needed a catcher, Rickey sent minor league catcher Cliff Dapper to Atlanta and Harwell joined the Dodgers.
"Probably the best word, he was gentle. And it came across. He just cared for people and he loved baseball. I mean, he loved it beyond just doing games," said Vin Scully, 82, who began broadcasting Brooklyn games in 1950, the season after Harwell left. "You can understand how the people in Detroit just loved him."
Harwell said his most memorable game was the 1951 playoff between the Dodgers and Giants for the NL pennant, which Bobby Thomson won with a walk-off home run. While Russ Hodges is remembered for his radio account of the "Shot Heard 'Round The World," Harwell was calling the first major sporting event televised coast-to-coast in the U.S.
"I just said, 'It's gone!' and then the pictures took over," he recalled.
By his own count, Harwell called more than 8,300 major league games, starting with the Dodgers and continuing with the New York Giants and Orioles before joining the Tigers.
Even casual fans could tick off Harwell catchphrases: "Looooooong gone!" for a home run; "He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by" for a batter taking a called third strike; and "Two for the price of one!" for a double play.
Survivors include his wife of 68 years, Lulu, and four children.
Harwell's body will lie in repose at Comerica Park tomorrow beginning at 7 a.m.
I had the opportunity to spend a little time with Ernie some years ago. A true gentleman in every sense of the word. For those of us who follow the fortunes of the "Old English D," Ernie was the voice of summer. Irreplaceable.
