DETROIT,MI - Ernie Harwell, THE voice of the Detroit Tigers for 42 years, passed away on Tuesday, after an eight month battle with cancer. While the news of his passing didn't come as a surprise, it still was hard to accept.
It was just last September when Harwell announced he had inoperable cancer of his pancreas. While the news hit Tiger fans and the entire baseball world hard, Harwell maintained a positive attitude. In numerous interviews after the announcement, he said that he had accepted his fate. He remarked that the good Lord has blessed him with a wonderful life and that he accepted whatever God had in store for him. A remarkable attitude by a remarkable man.
Career
Ernie Harwell got his start as a Major League announcer in 1948 when Red Barber, then the great Brooklyn Dodgers announcer, fell ill. General Manager Branch Rickey needed someone to replace Barber immediately and called down to the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern League, inquiring about their announcer, Ernie Harwell. The Crackers told Rickey that they would give them Harwell, but that they needed a catcher in return. Rickey agreed and traded minor league catcher, Cliff Dapper, to Atlanta for Harwell. He was the only announcer ever to be traded for a player.
Harwell called Dodger games from 1948-1949, then moved onto the New York Giants (1950-1953). After the brief stop with the Giants he moved onto Baltimore to call Orioles games from 1954-1959. Then, in 1960 he teamed up with another Tiger great, George Kell, and started calling Tigers games. For the next four decades, he developed a relationship with Tiger fans that is seldom seen between an announcer and a team's fans. A lot of teams had their own great announcers...The Los Angeles Dodgers with Vin Scully (60 years), the Cincinnati Reds with Marty Brennaman (36 years), and I'm sure fans of those teams have their own unique stories, but I can only speak of Harwell.
Popularity and Draw
Each announcer has their own style. Harwell's style was like you were sitting there watching a game with an old friend. Growing up for me, I was lucky to have four really good announcers to listen to. There was George Kell and Al Kaline on the television side and Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on the radio side. I began really watching baseball in the 1987 season, the season the Tigers won their last Division title. I remember listening to a ton of games on the radio, as Harwell and Carey described the action. Harwell had such an easy going style. He would paint the perfect picture of what was happening and you could easily close your eyes and visualize the action in your head. His soothing, smooth voice with that southern drawl, put you at ease and really made you feel like he was talking directly to you. He would also mix in great stories while taking nothing away from the current action that was taking place in front of him. That's not easy to do. His phrases of "Long Gone", "He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by", "Two for the price of one", "A man from Midland (or Saginaw, or Warren or Windsor, etc) caught that one", became a part of Michigan lore. He was as part of the Tigers as any player or coach or manager. As players would come and go, he was the one constant we knew we could count on.
Retirement
Harwell retired in 2002. Upon his retirement, however, he made frequent trips to the ballpark and even made some appearances in the broadcast booth. He would occasionally show up on an ESPN telecast when they were in town, or even fill in a few times on Fox Sports Detroit. Whenever he was on, we would cherish every word he uttered. We knew his appearances would be few and far between, but it also brought us back to the days when he called the action. Whenever I heard he was going to be on somewhere, I called my dad right away to let him know. Or if he heard, he would call me. That's how much Harwell meant to us Tiger fans. It was always an event when he would pop into a booth, even if it was only for an inning. As the years went by, those appearances were less and less. His last appearance at Comerica Park, was on the field. It was September 16, 2009, and he came to say good-bye. In a moving speech (that appeared to be unrehearsed and from the heart), he thanked Tiger fans for all their support and loyalty. It was a chance for us all to say farewell to a man that meant so much to all of us.
One Final Good-Bye
It was a cool, crisp Thursday morning in downtown Detroit with barely a cloud in the sky. Fans from across the state of Michigan (and perhaps even further away) gathered at Comerica Park to pay their last respects to a Michigan legend. When I arrived, the line was wrapped around the corner from the main entrance of the stadium. Harwell's body lay in repose, just inside Gate A, next to his statue that was erected in 2002. The mood in line was somber. I could hear some people telling their stories of Harwell. I also noticed some people carrying flowers that were put beneath his casket and his statue. I saw people from many generations. Kids in strollers brought by parents who grew up listening to him. I saw older people who had listened to him since the beginning. You could tell a lot of people were dressed for work, either stopping before or taking some time during, to pay homage to a man that became their friend. The marquees at The Fillmore and at the Fox Theater had messages to Harwell. It was just a beautiful scene on a beautiful morning.
It didn't take long for the line to make their way through the stadium gates to where Harwell lay. As I got closer, I could see big pictures, that were on easels, of him, his wife, and more. As I enter the park I put my camera down and tried to take in the whole scene. The casket was open and you could see him dressed in a dark blue jacket, with that hat he always loved to wear. As I passed by, I silently said a few words to him and how much he meant to me, my family, and to everyone. I wish I would of had more time to stand there, but I said as much as I could as I slowly walked by. It is a moment I will never forget and I'm glad I was able to make it down there to see him one last time.
After passing by his casket an unexpected person was there thanking everyone for coming. As I looked at Mr. Harwell for the last time, I turned and say an outstretched hand out of the corner of my eye. As I turn to shake it, I looked up and it was none other than the Tigers President, CEO, and General Manager, Dave Dombrowski. I hadn't paid any attention to what was ahead past the casket as I was concentrating on taking in the whole scene. So to my surprise, Dombrowski was there. It was a class move by a class organization. It made me proud to be a Tiger fan.
A Final Word
It's so hard to believe that Ernie Harwell is gone. That we will never hear his powerful voice again, except on tape. It's hard to believe a voice that linked many a generation has been silenced forever. Life goes on, baseball will still be played, but one thing we Tiger fans will never forget, is the voice of our youth, the voice of our adulthood, and THE voice of the Tigers. It will live on forever, in all of us.
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