Remembering Ernie Harwell

AP Photo/National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

This 1942 photo, provided by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, N.Y., shows broadcaster Ernie Harwell. Harwell spent 42 of his 55 years in broadcasting with the Detroit Tigers, joining Mel Allen, Jack Buck, Harry Caray and others among the game's most famous play-by-play voices. He died May 4, 2010, after a months-long battle with cancer. He was 92.

This undated handout from the National Baseball Hall of Fame shows Ernie Harwell, left, chatting with Ted Williams. Harwell announced Detroit games on radio from 1960-1991, again in 1993 and from 1999-2002. He broadcast games on over-the-air and cable TV from 1960-64 and 1994-98.

This 1950 photo provided by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, N.Y., shows Ernie Harwell broadcasting a ball game. By his own count, Harwell called more than 8,300 major league games, starting with the Dodgers and continuing with the Giants and Baltimore Orioles before joining the Tigers. He missed two games outside of the '92 season: one for his brother's funeral in 1968, the other when he was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 1989.

%7BEEC575B4-6067-4143-93A4-CCFE92849910%7D.jpg — AP Photo/National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, NY

This 1980 photo provided by the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, N.Y., shows Ernie Harwell. Harwell's big break came in unorthodox fashion. Brooklyn Dodgers radio broadcaster Red Barber fell ill in 1948, and general manager Branch Rickey needed a replacement. After learning that the minor league Atlanta Crackers needed a catcher, Rickey sent catcher Cliff Dapper to Atlanta and Harwell joined the Dodgers.

In this Oct. 3, 1993, photo, Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell pauses during a break in the action in the Tigers' game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Baseball Hall of Fame honored Harwell in 1981 with the Ford C. Frick Award, given annually to a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball.

Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell, center, addresses the crowd during a ceremony after the Tigers' game against the New York Yankees in Detroit, his final home game as announcer, Sept. 22, 2002. His easygoing manner and love of baseball endeared him to generations of Tigers fans, enhancing the club's finest moments and making its struggles more bearable.

AP Photo/Detroit Free Press, Romain Blanquart

Former Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell addresses the crowd at a Tigers baseball game in Detroit, Sept. 16, 2009. A life-sized statue of Harwell stands at the entrance to Comerica Park and its press box is called "The Ernie Harwell Media Center."