Detroit baseball professionals and fans are lining up to offer their praise for long-time broadcaster Ernie Harwell, who lost a battle with cancer at the age of 92. Although he started elsewhere, including a stint in Brooklyn beginning in 1948, most of a lengthy career took place in Detroit beginning in 1960.
Harwell handled television coverage of the team but is best known for his work on the radio, mostly on the city’s legendary WJR-AM.
Al Kaline, who knew Harwell as both a Tiger being covered and later as a broadcast booth partner, told the Detroit Free Press, “There wasn’t a nicer person. He had time for everybody. He lived here and stayed here. He didn’t just work here and then go away in the off-season. He would have young announcers up to his booth all the time and give them advice. He had time for everybody.”
Kaline was Harwell’s television partner, but noted the Hall of Famer’s love for the older medium. “You could tell he loved radio so much,” he said. “He loved that he could paint a picture over the air. On television, you talk about the pictures that are being shown.”
Harwell retired in 2002.
