Len Kasper's Lunch With Ernie Harwell

Nice post on Len & Bob's blog about the meeting he and Judd Sirott had with Tigers broadcasting legend Ernie Harwell.

Comments

Boy, talk about doing all your legwork

yourself…no producers, no assistants….you just go get all the info yourself. Different era. To do all of this is to love your work. But this type of situation would not have been unusual to anybody in Harwell’s peer group.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jun 25, 2009 7:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

To a kid growing up in the '60s

with a drunk old man who had PTSD from WW2 and a violent temper, crawling into bed at night with an old transistor radio, hiding under the covers so they couldn’t hear, sometimes staying up really late when there was a 10PM start against the Angels, Ernie’s voice, calm, passionate, loved the tigers, loved the game….it could be very comforting to hear an adult male who I could learn something from. ’68 especially, very good year.

Fundamentals are a crutch for the talentless. -- Kenny Powers

by patches23 on Jun 26, 2009 2:05 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

Wow

Sorry to hear about the troubles, but ‘68 was such an interesting year. From what I’ve heard, that ’68 Tigers team prevented Detroit the city from getting very, very ugly.

by jerry morales rules on Jun 26, 2009 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

A few months ago

I heard an interview with him on ESPN 1000. I believe that Chuck Swirsky was doing it. In any event, Ernie Harwell was talking about his personal observations of Babe Ruth. It struck me that we are nearing the end of an era where first hand observations of those players are still availible. To tell everyone the truth, before the interview, I thought that the era was already over, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear Harwell’s recollections.

by jerry morales rules on Jun 26, 2009 9:13 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Me loves some Ernie Harwell.

I hear his voice in interviews and go to my happy place.

if this was still new to me, i wouldn't understand

by N Oakley on Jun 26, 2009 11:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Am I the only one

who is irritated by Jud Sirrot? He’s too loud, too quick, and his scoreboard reports cause us to miss several pitches.

He must have compromising photos of Sam Zell.

by Clark Addison on Jun 26, 2009 12:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sirrot isn't responsible for the scoreboard reports

They’ve been doing those for at least three years.

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Jun 26, 2009 12:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Those scoreboard reports are terrible..

Sirrot’s like trying to get through them and it’s not even like there’s time to hear them.. Why don’t the announcers just update us on scores (hopefully by using some info source that’s closer to real time) as they happen and fit into the the discussion – I think Harry used to do this on WGN and it didn’t break up the broadcast so much.

by DisCUBbobulated on Jun 26, 2009 12:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Maybe if we all wrote to WGN. They could still be sponsored, but in a way that would not interrupt PxP

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Jun 26, 2009 2:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ernie Harwell

sounds like he could get in the booth and do PxP right now, at 90. Loved listening to him for the Tigs back in the day.

by Not Bruce Froemming on Jun 26, 2009 6:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

A legend in Detroit.

I still cannot believe the late Bo Schembechler actually FIRED Ernie back in the early 1990s. This was Bo’s way of saying he knew more about running a baseball operation than anyone else and he was going to run things like um football. He wanted a younger sound in the broadcast booth.

Bo knew NOTHING about baseball.

Thank God Mike Illich brought the team from Tom Monaghan and corrected this egregious mistake.

Tigers and baseball fans have been blessed with Ernie’s pxp.

Go Green! Go White! GO STATE!
King Leonidas: Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!

by Zeke on Jun 26, 2009 9:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I always liked Bo

but that was a terrible move, for two reasons. Firstly, Harwell still had his PxP chops. He wasn’t like Harry (God bless him), who seemed out of it a lot toward the end. Second, it’s awful PR to unceremoniously dump an icon like Ernie was, and still is, for the Tigers.

by Not Bruce Froemming on Jun 26, 2009 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

A TIGER LEGEND......

I had the honor to shake hands once with Ernie . What a real treat for me I was only about 12 at the time . When the Tigers canned him my dad a Die Hard Tigers fan was in shock. No one could understand why . And to this day a reason has never been given . Ernie could jump into the booth today and still do a great job ……

by cubs north on Jun 26, 2009 11:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was a case of Bo being Bo. Pure arrogance.

Go Green! Go White! GO STATE!
King Leonidas: Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!

by Zeke on Jun 28, 2009 8:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I had to divide my opinions of Bo between

Bo, the Michigan Football Coach/AD and his run with the Tigers.

As AD, firing Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA tournament to let the assistant coach was a bold and inspired decision with the famed “Michigan man” comment.

Cutting Ernie was moronic and ill informed and showed no knowledge of marketing baseball and broadcasting. The extended period of suck at Michicgan and Trumbull following his brief reign is probably not a coincidence.

if this was still new to me, i wouldn't understand

by N Oakley on Jun 30, 2009 9:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs