Ernie Harwell has passed away

[spydermike72]

The sad news came in this evening. Ernie will be missed by all, not just Tiger's fans.

[Derek]

Sorry to hear that Mike.

[michiana mark]

I remember listening to him when I was a kid. It always amazed me that he knew where everyone that caught a foul ball lived, and that they where a longtime Tiger fan, just astounding. RIP

[BruceB]

I will always remember sitting outside with my Dad as a kid listening to the Tigers game and Ernie Harwell on the radio. Then putting the small transistor radio under my pillow to listen to the west coast games late at night.

He was the best!

"STRIKE 3, he stood there like the house by the side of the road."

[spydermike72]

When I lived in Norfolk Va and on a clear night you could get WJR and the Tigers games, it would be a little fuzzy but you could hear Ernie. Those are good memories...

[jim]

Funny story I heard about Ernie -

He hated doing the pregame shows. So he is out one night having dinner during a road trip, and I nicely dressed lady comes up to talk to him. She says to him that she would do anything to him for $200 (turned out she was a "professional" lady). He responded "Will you do my pregame show?"

Personal note...I got to meet him twice. One of the most polite, sincere people I ever met. He was truly honored to be the voice of our state, the city and the team. How lucky we were...no how honored we were to have him share his springs and summers with us. God bless him and grant him peace.

[Rich Parker]

I knew of the man because he was a celebrity but never had the pleasure of listening to him. RIP

I will always remember sitting outside with my Dad as a kid listening to the Tigers game and Ernie Harwell on the radio. Then putting the small transistor radio under my pillow to listen to the west coast games late at night.

He was the best!

"STRIKE 3, he stood there like the house by the side of the road."

They had radios back then? I thought the telegraph was the only mode of communication.

[bbqbull]

Ive listened to Ernie since I was a very little boy.
My neighbor met Ernie at a function in Lansing years ago. Neighbor said he was the nicest fellow he had ever met.
He will be missed sorely.
R.I.P. Ernie, you have earned your wings.

[toolman]

the true voice of summer and of a bygone era of detroit .

[michiana mark]

I knew of the man because he was a celebrity but never had the pleasure of listening to him. RIP



They had radios back then? I thought the telegraph was the only mode of communication.

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!

[Trooper]

Dear Mrs. Graham:

Throughout Michigan, we are mourning the passing of Ernie Harwell, whose career broadcasting Detroit Tigers' games touched so many lives. Yesterday, I spoke on the Senate floor about this great man and his place in the hearts of Michiganians, and I wanted to share my comments with you. You can view my speech at [http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=324685].

I also have included the text of my speech below.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin delivered the following statement on the Senate floor on May 5, 2010:

“For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”

Mr. President, spring after spring, for four decades, a man named Ernie Harwell would recite those words. He would recite them at the beginning of the first baseball broadcast of spring training. And those are the words that would tell the people of Michigan that the long, cold winter was over.

Ernie was the radio voice of the Detroit Tigers for 42 years, and in that time, there may have been no Michiganian more universally beloved. Our state mourns today at his passing, yesterday evening, after a battle with cancer. He fought that battle with the grace, the good humor, and the wisdom that Michigan had come to expect, and even depend on, from a man we came to know and love.

This gentlemanly Georgian adopted our team, and our state, as his own. And his career would have been worthy had he done nothing more than bring us the sound of summer over the radio, recounting the Tigers' ups and downs with professionalism and wit, as he did.

But without making a show of it, Ernie Harwell taught us. In his work and his life, he taught us the value of kindness and respect. He taught us that, in a city and a world too often divided, we could be united in joy at a great Al Kaline catch, or a Lou Whitaker home run, or a Mark Fidrych strikeout. He taught us not to let life pass us by “like the house by the side of the road.”

In 1981, when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ernie told the assembled fans what baseball meant to him. “In baseball democracy shines its clearest,” he said. “The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another.” That was a lesson he taught us so well.

Mr. President, I will miss Ernie Harwell. All of Michigan will miss the sound of his voice telling us that the winter is past, that the Tigers had won a big game, or that they'd get another chance to win one tomorrow. We will miss his Georgia drawl, his humor, his humility, his quiet faith in God and in the goodness of the people he encountered. But we will carry in our hearts always our love for him, our appreciation for his work, and the lessons he gave us and left us and that we will pass on to our children and grandchildren.

Sincerely,
Carl Levin

[sfisch]

Couldn't be said any better.
In the upper right had corner drawer of my desk at work is the small AM radio I got when I was about 8 years old. I used to put it under my pillow at night and run the small earphone out and listen to Ernie broadcast the ballgames without my parents knowing even though they probably did. The radio still works although the AM stations don't come in to well.
Without turning it on, I can still hear Ernie broadcast those games as I wait to fall asleep.


Take care,
Scott