Ernie Harwell Has Cancer

Ernie Harwell was the voice of Detroit Tigers baseball for 42 years. He was once traded from the minors to the major leagues for a player (true story). He was one of four broadcasters (that I know of) to call the famous shot heard 'round the world in 1951.

By the way, he says "Mrs. Harwell was the only one that saw it" as TV was still very much in its infancy. It's also been lost to time. The calls of Russ Hodges ("THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!"), Red Barber, and even Gordon McClendon have been preserved (and I own them).

Ernie Harwell is 91, and he has incurable cancer. The Detroit Free Press has more.

My favorite passage from the article was this:

Asked what he wanted to have written about him, Harwell spoke about his fans and his faith.

"I don't want to make it too sweet because I don't want to get diabetes as well as this other stuff," he said, chuckling.

Best wishes to a man who has inspired literally thousands of young broadcasters, and many more fans.