40 Facts About Ernie Harwell

William Earnest Ernie Harwell was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games.

Ernie Harwell grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, working in his youth as a paperboy for the Atlanta Georgian; one of his customers was writer Margaret Mitchell.

An avid baseball fan from an early age, Ernie Harwell became visiting batboy for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association at the age of five, and never had to buy a ticket to get into a baseball game again.

Ernie Harwell attended Emory University, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and helped edit The Emory Wheel.

Ernie Harwell traded catcher Cliff Dapper to the Crackers in exchange for breaking Harwell's broadcasting contract, the only known instance in baseball history where a player was traded for a broadcaster.

Related searches

Ernie Harwell was the lead broadcaster on Orioles broadcasts on WCBM-AM and WMAR-TV in 1955, working alongside Chuck Thompson.

Ernie Harwell joined the Detroit Tigers' broadcast crew in 1960, replacing Van Patrick after the latter was dismissed owing to a sponsorship change.

Ernie Harwell shared TV and radio duties with Kell through 1963, then with Bob Scheffing in 1964.

Ernie Harwell began working radio exclusively in 1965, teaming with Gene Osborn for two seasons and then with Ray Lane from 1967 to 1972.

Fans across Michigan and throughout the baseball world were outraged, but the ballclub and the radio station stood firm: "[Ernie Harwell's situation is] not going to change no matter how much clamor is made over it, " said team president Bo Schembechler.

The movement in favor of keeping Ernie Harwell was so strong that even billboards in favor of his remaining were put up.

Ernie Harwell worked a part-time schedule for the California Angels in 1992.

In 1993 Ernie Harwell teamed with Rizzs and Rathbun on the WJR broadcasts, calling play-by-play of the middle innings in each game.

From 1994 to 1998, Ernie Harwell called television broadcasts for the Tigers on PASS Sports and later WKBD-TV.

Ernie Harwell helped broadcast two All-Star Games and two World Series for NBC Radio, numerous ALCS and ALDS for CBS Radio and ESPN Radio, and the CBS Radio Game of the Week from 1992 to 1997.

Ernie Harwell called the 1984 World Series locally for the Tigers and WJR.

In 2005, Ernie Harwell guested for an inning on the Fox network's coverage of the All-Star Game, as well as an inning on the ESPN Radio broadcast.

Ernie Harwell called an inning of Game 1 of the 2006 World Series for WXYT.

Ernie Harwell worked the telecasts as a substitute for regular analyst Rod Allen, who took the games off to attend his son's high school graduation.

Ernie Harwell occasionally did vignettes on the history of baseball for Fox Sports Detroit's magazine program Tigers Weekly.

Ernie Harwell was known for his low-key delivery, southern accent, and conversational style.

Ernie Harwell authored several books, including Life After Baseball, Tuned to Baseball, and Breaking 90: Nine Decades Young and Still Loving Baseball.

Ernie Harwell was an occasional columnist for the Detroit Free Press.

Ernie Harwell's first recorded song was "Upside Down" on the Something Stupid album by Homer and Jethro in the mid-1960s.

Ernie Harwell made a cameo appearance in the 1994 film Cobb and in the made-for-television movies Aunt Mary, Tiger Town, and Cooperstown .

Related searches

Ernie Harwell appeared as an interview subject in the 1998 documentary film The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg and contributed to numerous other baseball-themed documentaries and retrospectives over the years.

Ernie Harwell served as a spokesman for Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Michigan.

Ernie Harwell formerly ran a blog about healthy living and fitness for BCBS.

Devout Christian, Ernie Harwell was long involved with Baseball Chapel, an evangelistic organization for professional ballplayers.

In late 2008, Ernie Harwell began to appear in television public service announcements for the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, advising viewers about the Digital television transition in the United States.

Ernie Harwell was a member of the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy Board, an organization which attempted to save portions of Tiger Stadium.

Ernie Harwell offered to donate a large portion of his historic collection of baseball memorabilia, which he had collected over the course of his storied career, if part of Tiger Stadium could have been saved for a museum.

Ernie Harwell lived in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and moved to Novi in the late 1990s, where he lived until his death.

In 1991, Ernie Harwell was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame.

In 2001, Ernie Harwell was the recipient of the prestigious Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, awarded by the Detroit Sports Media Association .

Ernie Harwell was named a Lifetime Member of the Detroit Sports Media Association.

In 2010 Ernie Harwell was named as a recipient of the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award from Fordham University radio station WFUV.

Ernie Harwell sat down for a 60-minute interview on an episode of MLB Network's Studio 42 with Bob Costas, his final television appearance.

Ernie Harwell considered Scully to be the best broadcaster of all-time.

Ernie Harwell's longtime broadcasting partner Paul Carey threw out the ceremonial first pitch that night.