[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 22074]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ERNIE HARWELL

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the man whose voice 
was the sound of summer, to the man who guided Michiganders through 
baseball seasons for more than 40 years. I rise in tribute to Ernie 
Harwell.
  For those who love baseball and the Detroit Tigers, Ernie Harwell's 
easy Georgia drawl on a summer evening has been a tonic after a hard 
day's toil. He has been our eyes and ears at the corner of Michigan and 
Trumbull and, later, at the team's new downtown ballpark. Since 1960, 
when Ernie broadcast his first Tigers game, until today, perhaps no 
person, no player nor manager, has been more closely identified with 
Tigers baseball. Certainly none has formed so strong an emotional tie 
with the fans of our team.
  Ernie grew up in Atlanta, and he often tells fans that as a boy he 
was tongue-tied, coping with a speech impediment, but with therapy and 
hard work, he turned his voice into a tool so powerful it brought the 
game to life. His first broadcasting job was with the minor league team 
in his hometown, but in 1948, when broadcasting legend Red Barber of 
the Brooklyn Dodgers fell ill, Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey 
called down to Atlanta. He asked if he could bring up young Ernie to 
fill Barber's seat at Ebbets Field. OK, the Atlanta general manager 
replied, but you will have to give me something in return. And so Ernie 
became the first and so far only broadcaster in baseball history to be 
included in a trade, sent to Brooklyn for a minor league catcher.
  That was one of Branch Rickey's finest deals. In Brooklyn and then in 
Baltimore, Ernie honed his craft and won the admiration of fans. He was 
the television broadcaster for one of the most famous moments in 
baseball history, Bobby Thompson's ``Shot Heard Round the World'' in 
1951. The national networks began to tap his talent for other events, 
such as pro and college football games and the Masters golf tournament.
  And then, in 1960, he came to Detroit.
  It is hard to describe to those who aren't from Michigan or fans of 
the Tigers just what Ernie Harwell meant to us over the next five 
decades. His voice on the radio guided us through good seasons and bad, 
through our city's times of prosperity and of tragedy. Through that ebb 
and flow he was a constant, his voice never too excited, never too 
downcast. We rejoiced when he told us an opposing batter took strike 
three ``like the house by the side of the road,'' chuckled as he 
reported a foul ball had become a souvenir for a fan from Detroit or 
Howell or Warren or Lansing, or another town Michigan fans recognized. 
In the first days of every March, at the opening of his very first 
broadcast of spring training, Ernie announced the official end of 
Michigan winter with a reading from the Song of Solomon:
  ``For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers 
appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the 
voice of the turtle is heard in our land.''
  But over the decades, Ernie became more to us than just a welcome 
voice on the radio. He became a friend. For as good as he was behind 
the microphone, he is an even better man, and the quality of his 
character shone brightly, on his broadcasts and on the countless times 
he greeted fans with a hearty hello, or treated a clubhouse attendant 
with the same respect and affection as the million-dollar ballplayer. 
We came to respect and honor his voice, but to cherish his great heart.
  This beloved friend is hurting now. His illness, he tells us without 
a trace of bitterness, will soon take him from us. But as he faces what 
he calls the end of his journey, the greatness of his heart has once 
again shined forth.
  Last night, the Tigers took a break from the heat of another pennant 
race to pay tribute to this legend and friend. Amid the cheers and 
tears, Ernie once again put the fans first. Here is what he said:
  ``In my almost 92 years on this earth, the good Lord has blessed me 
with a great journey, and the blessed part of that journey is it's 
going to end here in the great state of Michigan.
  ``I deeply appreciate the great people of Michigan. I love their 
grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they 
have. And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all. No question 
about that.''
  There is an example of true courage and grace for all of us to try to 
follow.
  Soon, this great voice will be silenced, a great heart stilled. But 
Ernie Harwell's love of the game, his humanity, his courage, will 
remain with us always. I treasure the moments I have spent with him. I 
thank him for the hours of joy he has given me, my wife and children, 
and the people of Michigan. I wish him and his beloved wife Lulu all 
the joy they deserve.

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