Thaindian News

DETROIT (BNO NEWS) — Acclaimed Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell died after a nearly year-long battle with cancer, the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DSBA) said on Tuesday. He was 92.

Harwell’s 55-year career began in Atlanta in 1946 when he became a sports commentator for WSB Radio as a graduate of Emory University. He moved two years later to the Brooklyn Dodgers after the team’s radio broadcaster, Red Barber, fell ill.

After stints with the New York Giants and Baltimore Orioles, he started his long association with the Tigers - what made his name known to many baseball fans in Michigan, and across the nation. Harwell was the voice of the Tigers from 1960 until 2002.

“The Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association joins the millions of others who are mourning the death of Ernie Harwell,” said DSBA President Will Tieman. “We salute Ernie for all he has done to make sports and baseball in particular, the beloved game that it is. And we thank Ernie for a lifetime of greatness as a human being and as a sports journalist. Our sympathy goes out to his dear wife Lulu, their children, and the entire family.”

Harwell was born on January 25, 1918 in Washington, Georgia and served in the Marine Corps from 1942 until 1946. He is survived by his wife LuLu, who he married more than 68 years ago on August 30, 1941. The couple had four children together.

Among many honors, in 1981, Harwell was voted the Ford Frick Award for major contributions to baseball by the Hall of Fame. He was also elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 2001, Harwell was the recipient of the prestigious Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, awarded by the DSBA. And later, as recent as 2009, Harwell was named the first recipient of the DSBA’s Ernie Harwell Lifetime Contribution Award.