Ernie Harwell
1918-2010
Considering that everything we promote here on MOTORCITYBLOG is about local 'aural' experience, I think it only fitting that we pause a moment to pay our respects to one of the most endearing voices in Detroit history, Mr. Ernie Harwell.
Detroit may have created Motown, invented Techno and perfected real Rock n Roll, but there is no other singlular sound more representative of the hard working, blue collar Detroiter and America's favorite pastime than that of Ernie Harwell's infamous, "...looooonnnnnnnnggg gone..." accompanying a Tigers home run.
You will be sorely missed, Ernie, especially when the frost starts to melt in early spring and the sounds of the Louisville's start to be heard on the fields. God bless you and your Family.
MCB
Editor Note: After moving back to Detroit in 2003 I was doing some volunteer work for The Friends of the Detroit Public Library and had a chance to meet Ernie for a moment when they were constructing the Harwell Room at the Main Branch on Woodward. The Harwell Room is open for visiting and I encourage anyone reading this to stop in and support the man as well as the institution that embraced him.
Harwell Room Open to the Public
As a public service to the residents of Detroit and fans of the late Ernie Harwell, the Lulu & Ernie Harwell Collection will be open to public beginning Wednesday May 5th through Saturday, May 15th, 2010. Located at the Detroit Public Library, on Woodward north of Warren in Midtown Detroit, the Harwell Room has on display artifacts and memorabilia of Ernie Harwell’s long sports career. Guests can view select items from an initial donation of 7,000 photographs, given in 1966 by Baseball Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, which provided the basis for the Ernie Harwell Sports Collection. The collection now consists of books, magazines, team annuals, media guides, baseball and football cards, pamphlets, programs, yearbooks, scorecards, scrapbooks, audiotapes, and videotapes. Highlights include:
Detroit Tiger team correspondence, 1903-12
Harwell’s 1968 World Series Ring
Rookie cards of Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, & Roberto Clemente
Beadles, DeWitt, Bull Durham, Reach, & Spaulding guides
Extensive Ty Cobb biography file and photographs
Various World Series programs beginning with 1905
Sporting Life Magazine, 1885-1917
The Lulu and Ernie Harwell exhibit room at Main Library displays some of these artifacts and others, including seats from Tiger Stadium and a mock broadcast booth. Located on 2nd Floor Cass Mezzanine of Main Library, the collection has been supplemented with photos and plaques in the Cass Concourse display on the first floor.
Admission to the Library is free and open to the public during regular business hours, Noon to 8 PM Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 AM till 6 PM Thursday through Saturday.
Information at 313-481-1401, 5201 Woodward, Detroit, 48202.
Please send condolences and memorial donations to the Ernie Harwell Foundation c/o S. Gary Spicer, 16845 Kercheval Ave., Grosse Pointe, MI 48230.