The Voice of the Tigers... The Voice of the Turtle.

I learned last night that Ernie Harwell died. Sights, sounds, smells, feelings all can bring you instantly back to another moment; to a time in the past. Hearing the voice of Ernie Harwell does that for me. In a time of endless reality TV shows on basic cable, mind numbing commercials running over and over again, and all sorts of noises looking for attention the sound of a baseball game being called over the radio is pretty close to a symphony for me. Ernie Harwell was the Bach of baseball announcers in my book. I feel blessed that my family moved to the Detroit area when I was 12. For much of the 80's I got to listen to this man work the microphone.

A well called baseball game does not require a winning team or even an interesting team. It requires an announcer who loves the game, enjoys life and can tell a story like a master. The great ones: Ernie Harwell, Vin Scully, and Bob Uecker don't even need a partner. You become their partner as you listen to them describe the action. Now Ernie is gone... Uke is recovering from heart surgery and I pray will be back in the booth by the end of summer... and Scully has hinted this may be his final year.

Thanks to the modern marvel of the internet and MLB.com I can steel a opportunity to listen to a few innings. I fell asleep to the voice of Scully calling the Brewers-Dodgers game last night. I did that same thing listening to Ernie 25 years ago.

Ernie was known for several catch phrase. Latter in his carrer he used "Looong Gooone" to call home runs. When a fan in the stands would catch a foul ball he would let the listeners know what city the fan was from. "That was caught my a young man from Livonia." Many listeners still wonder how he got that information; never considering for a moment that the gentle Harwell might have made it up. For a double play Ernie would say "two for the price of one." But my favorite call of Ernie's was a called-third-strike strikeout: "He stood there like the house on the side of the road, and watched that one go by."

Time like an ever flowing stream marches on and God blesses us with moments of peace, fun, and a connection with many interesting people. I'm glad I got spend many moments with Ernie and do miss him. I pray that God's peace will be with his family and his many friends.