So glad this was posted. Being only 23, I didn’t get the chance to experience Ernie in the fullest, but watching this video and Tom Gage’s article from this morning got me all choked up. Love it.

Announcers become a part of the family to baseball fans. I follow the A’s but I would like to say if our announcers last as long as Ernie and end up going to the microphone at homeplate with the same dignity and CLASS that Ernie did tonight I’d be so proud. He’s been a class act his entire career.

I’d like to pass on a note of regret to all of his fans . Another lost link to the past and all baseball fans will be poorer for that. I’m truly saddened. Condolences to all of you.

for everything over the years. I really believe the way Ernie conducts himself has carried over to the way the organization conducts itself overall. We can all have our disagreements with what guys are paid what amount and what players we have, but this organization generally does things the right way. The announcers respect the game and their opponents. Leyland, Tram, and Sparky are old-time baseball men who revere the sport. We’ve always had a good amount of classy players (and the occasional jerk, sure). The events (Fiesta Tigres, etc) are put together in a good way.

I really feel that the organization, especially over the years of Mr. I’s stewardship, has taken its cues from the way Ernie approaches things. Just my opinion.

Ernie is the greatest of all Tigers and we were very lucky to have him for all these years.

Like Mike Rogers, I’m 22 and didn’t get the entire “Ernie experience” but I listened to him enough to know what he meant to this city. God Bless Ernie, and Thank you!

He made a very good point about how, with all games now available on TV, that link that the older (say, above 30?) fans made with radio announcers, where they were your sole link to the game, and you trusted them implicitly to give you an accurate picture of what was going on at the ballpark, no longer gets made.

These days, the Tigers radio announcers hardly ever get mentioned on this board, we’re talking about Mario and Rod all the time (even if I’ve only seen them broadcast, say, two games), and I can’t even name Dan Dickerson’s sidekick off the top of my head – it’s Jim Price, right? 6 years in Wisconsin, and I’m still not entirely sure it’s Jim Powell sharing the booth with Bob Uecker.

But I can recall Ernie and Paul calling games from the 80s, Bruce Martyn and Paul Woods on Red Wings games, and Ken Kal doing Michigan games and later teaming up with Woods for the Wings cups runs.

As a totally unrelated aside, anyone else think that “You’re my Tiger” sign at 1:58 of the video originally had a grammar fail in it, and the lady realized it and saved the day by adding the undersized “e” and an apostrophe?

Ernie Harwell was one of the first voices I ever heard call a baseball game. Thank you, Ernie, for years of service not just to the Tigers, but to the game.