Ernie Harwell
Ernie Harwell
William Earnest "Ernie" Harwellwas an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 seasons, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called the action on radio and/or television. In January 2009, the American Sportscasters Association ranked Harwell 16th on its list of Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSportscaster
Date of Birth25 January 1918
CityWashington, GA
CountryUnited States of America
Wheaties was the big sponsor in those days (1940s). They sponsored almost all the baseball games in the majors and the minors. That was a lot of Wheaties. I think there were twenty-four boxes in a case and some of these guys were hitting twenty-five and thirty home runs a season. We had a dog in those days named Blue Grass and the players used to give us their Wheaties for him. Blue Grass loved Wheaties and so did I.
Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.
So much happened (in 1968) it was hard to keep up with everything. We had Denny McLain's thirty-one victories, Gates Brown's great pinch-hitting in the clutch, Tom Matchick's home run to beat Baltimore in the ninth inning, then Daryl Patterson striking out the side to beat them in the ninth. Excitement every day in the ballpark.
Especially in this strike filled year but my feelings about the game are still the same as they were back then and I think that maybe yours are too.
Radio will always be with us because of its great portability. TV can't give you that.
Radio is such a great medium. It makes you use one of the most important things God gave you imagination. The listener can picture what the announcer is telling you.
My bosses said, 'He's a mean, old man. He's not going to talk to a kid like you who's just starting out,' ... But he was very warm, very hospitable. I sat in the living room with him and we talked for about 15 minutes on the air. He filled the whole program, then we sat around and talked a lot more.
McDonough said, referring to the Hall-of-Fame announcer who spent more than four decades as the voice of the Detroit Tigers. ''I thought I'd be with the Red Sox all my career. Really, it's the only play-by-play job I ever wanted.
We had a dog in those days named Blue Grass and the players used to give us their Wheaties for him. Blue Grass loved Wheaties and so did I.
It's a lot harder for one guy to make a reputation for himself in radio than it used to be because the listener has so many options.
It's easy, inexpensive, everyone can do it and it will lead to better things.
It's a great idea. Now, there's really a way to compare these guys. I enjoy the versatility of the different announcers.
It isn't me that people love. It's baseball.
Everybody we meet has an influence on us and an impact - good or bad. And I think that's why we have to be careful with the way we handle people because what we're doing is making an impact.