Comments on: Column: A True Hall of Famer

By: Bob Galardi

Bob Galardi — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:27:42 +0000

I’ll always remember 1968 sitting in our barracks in Da Nang (Vietnam) at 2 am with my Ann Arbor buddy Geoff Hall. We tuned into Armed Forces Radio to listen to the World Series. We were homesick and then we heard Ernie’s voice and we cried – for that series we were home!

By: MS.D

MS.D — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:57:34 +0000

I don’t think we can ever truly appreciate just how deeply Ernie Harwell has affected generation after generation of Detroit Tiger fans. As a young kid, I remember listening to Tiger broadcasts on summer nights from my grandfather’s porch. I spent many spring and fall nights when the Tigers were on the west coast listening to Ernie Harwell on the radio long past my “school night” bed time. In my twenties, I lived in Connecticut and I recall the great rush of pleasure that came when occasionally I could listen to Ernie Harwell on WJR through some odd quirk of AM frequencies that allowed the Tiger broadcast to come in clearly across the miles. I am so glad to hear that he is even more amazing in person than the man he always appeared to be. He’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime legend and many people are grateful for the example he provided of how a life should be lived. I hope there is much joy and love in the last leg of his journey.

By: Jerome Drummond

Jerome Drummond — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:57:54 +0000

Yes, Ernie Harwell is a sort of sportcaster we will not see again. The Detroit area was lucky to have him, as well as Al Kaline and George Kell – two other gentlemen sorely missed. My mother, who listened to the Tigers in the days of Ty Tyson, would agree with Mr. Bacon that Mr. Harwell’s approach to the radio was much nicer than the prattle so often heard today, as if we tuned in for that…

By: John U. Bacon

John U. Bacon — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:48:38 +0000

Thanks to all the readers who wrote today — but particularly Anne Harwell.

Years of sports writing have taught me it’s usually a bad idea to meet your childhood heroes as adults — but Mr. Harwell has been a great exception. As they say, some men are like mountains. The closer you get to them, the bigger they are.

And to prove it, who should call me today but Mr. Harwell himself. Needless to say, I got a little choked up, and had to compose myself before calling back. He was as gracious as ever — but I forgot to underscore the last line of the piece. So, Anne, next time you talk to him, assure him that I meant every word: if there’s anything I can do for him, I’ll come running.

Thanks to all.

-John Bacon

By: Anne Harwell

Anne Harwell — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:53:52 +0000

Thanks for such a great tribute to my grandfather. He is everything he’s cracked up to be….and more.

By: gordon miller

gordon miller — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:34:32 +0000

I had the privilege of capturing these moments in an audio autobiography a couple years back on ernies life. He is truly an amazing person. I spoke with him on wednseday and could simply say the best thing for him now will be your prayers

By: Duane Collicott

Duane Collicott — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:29:52 +0000

>He turned them into stories. In Harwell’s world, a batter didn’t merely strike out. He was “called out for excessive window shopping,” or “caught standing there like the house by the side of the road.”

>Harwell treated his listeners to healthy doses of “companionable silences,”

These are two of the things I remember about listening to Ernie on the radio I would sneak under my pillow at night. I used up a lot of batteries those years, and I don’t know if my parents ever figured out why they were dying so fast.

By: Steve Canham

Steve Canham — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:23:46 +0000

Lots of goosebumps reading that! A great tribute to Ernie. Thanks John.

By: SalineVance

SalineVance — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:15:27 +0000

John,

A moving remembrance of one of my best memories of summers in Michigan – Harwell’s voice over the radio. You’d be joined by a HUGE crowd who’d come running to help Ernie in any way we could. May God bless the man in his future adventures!