Ernie Harwell
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"William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell" was an United States of America/American sportscaster, known for his long career calling Sports commentator/play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 years, 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.

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I get out there once in a while. I don't want to be the old guy who sits in the corner, and everyone wonders what he's doing there.

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If you heard Harry Caray, he was best. If you heard Vin Scully, he was the best. If you heard Jack Buck, he was the best. That's the way it went. When I started, you were the only game in town, whether the listener liked it or not. They had to listen. Good or bad, you had to be in their ear.

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It's a great idea. Now, there's really a way to compare these guys. I enjoy the versatility of the different announcers.

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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.

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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.

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Radio will always be with us because of its great portability. TV can't give you that.

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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.

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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.

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Tom told me this wonderful story about how Ernie and his wife invited Tom and his wife over in Florida one time for a dish of ice cream. Who in this day invites you over for a dish of ice cream. Just wonderful.

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