The Shady Milkman

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010, is a day that will live in Michigan sports infamy. The Detroit Tigers got swept by the Minnesota Twins on their first visit to their new ballpark, Target Field, on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th…

The Detroit Red Wings let a 3rd period, two-goal lead slip away, losing in OT to the San Jose Sharks and falling to the assuredly hopeless three games down in the Western Conference semi-finals…

Then, the death of Ernie Harwell was announced to thousands of fans, including myself, during the broadcasts of these two collapses, and suddenly, nothing else mattered.

A Great Voice

Being born in 1985, I was just a little tyke as Ernie began to wind down his illustrious career as the Tigers’ radio broadcaster. In fact, I probably relate the Tigers’ TV broadcasts to Ernie as much as I do to their radio broadcasts. But that never made a difference, because unlike most radio announcers, Ernie’s voice seemed to be a perfect fit for the man behind the mic.

Admittedly, I wasn’t a die-hard Tigers’ fan in my youth. I wasn’t one of the kids sleeping with a radio under his pillow. But when the dial was tuned one of Ernie’s broadcasts, I don’t think there’s any other voice that could have subdued me the way his did.

They don’t make ‘em like Ernie anymore. The days of legendary broadcasting are numbered. Guys like Vin Scully (Ernie’s Dodgers’ successor)—guys who can consider themselves in the same class as Ernie—are on their way out. I feel bad for the kids growing up today, because the closest thing they have to one of these men is someone like a Joe Buck, and its blasphemous for me to even write that comparison.

I guess that’s what comes with the Information Age. Our always-connected world is slowly killing the art of masterful play-by-play sports commentary. It’s already too late for the radio airwaves.

A Better Man

Ernie’s sense of loyalty is unfathomable by today’s standards. Married to the same woman for 68 years. Held the same job for 55 years. Worked with the same organization for 42 years. The epitome of a true gentleman. Ernie was not a serial cheater and mercenary like those who find fame in this generation.

He also treated everyone with profound respect and gentle kindness. Whether meeting someone for the first time for knowing them for years, that person left Ernie’s presence feeling that they had a best friend in him. I think that this is an important aspect of Ernie’s personality that we should all take to heart.

If we all took a page out of Ernie’s playbook and treated everyone as if they were our dear friend instead of our worst enemy, maybe the world wouldn’t be on the verge of destroying itself.

The Double Threat

Since his passing, the outpouring of kind words touting how wonderful a man Ernie was have not ceased. Every time I read one of these statements, I get choked up thinking about how the world could lose a man with such an immense character just as easily as it loses those with hearts of black. It’s just a blunt reminder that Father Time knows no face. Everyone, and everything, must come to an end.

So I’ll remember Ernie for his legendary calls and for his legendary kindness. I never got to meet him, but like most of us, I feel like I’ve known him my whole life. The good Lord up above finally decided to take Ernie on his next adventure—an adventure he’d been expecting for eight months. If you ask me, the Lord is definitely getting “two for the price of one.”