A True Southern Gentleman

Today we pay tribute to a true Southern gentleman, Ernie Harwell. Ernie was born on January 25, 1918 in Georgia. He grew up in Atlanta. For the 1923 baseball season this future legend was hired at the age of five to be the visiting batboy for the local Atlanta Crackers. By the age of 16 he was a correspondent for The Sporting News, reporting on the Crackers each week. In 1943 he became the Crackers radio announcer, a career was begun that would last the rest of his life.

   In 1948 he became the only announcer to be traded for a player when the Brooklyn Dodgers required his services. He would later move over to the New York Giants and later to the Baltimore Orioles, when they first entered the American League. In 1960, he moved again to Detroit to become an announcer for the Tigers. Thus began a long love affair between not just the fans of Tigers, but the City of Detroit itself and Harwell. In their eyes he was nothing short of the greatest, with his Southern charm.

  In 1981 he became the fifth baseball announcer to receive the Ford C Frick Award. Although the Frick Award is given by the Baseball Hall of Fame, it does not make the winners members of the HoF, it is still a great award to be honored with. It is one of many awards that Harwell has won over his long, great career. He retired for good following the 2002 season. He died on May 4, 2010 of cancer with his wife of 68 years Lulu at his side. Happy Birthday Ernie.

   Tomorrow we will look at some Hockey games both NHL and international games.