Radio Days With Ernie (2010)

Kindly indulge me in a bit of nostalgia.

In the prehistoric days of my youth, there was no cable TV. In the summer, a baseball game would be televised once a week, twice if you were lucky. But there was radio -- AM radio -- and the real seam-heads could always be found near some static-filled squawk box, trying to catch a bit of a ballgame. My father was such a creature. He spent almost every summer's night sitting on our screened porch, with the radio tuned to baseball. Sometimes, he'd turn off the lights and just sit in the dark, listening.

Our local Mansfield station was an Indians affiliate, so the Tribe games always came in crystal clear, called by Herb Score and Bob Neal (and later, Joe Tait). But, as we all knew back then, that crazy AM signal could actually improve at night and you might be able to pull in some far-away station, at least temporarily. (Had to do with the atmosphere or curvature of the earth or something.) Dad was a dial-twirler. The Reds usually came in fairly well, with Al Michaels and Joe Nuxhall at the mike. Bob Prince and the Pirates came in pretty well at night, too. You could often catch a bit of a Cubs broadcast with Lou Boudreau, or a Cardinals game with Harry Caray and Jack Buck. (KMOX in St. Louis would come in loud and strong, like it was next door. After 10 or 15 minutes, it would just fade away completely. Such was AM radio at night.) Once in a great while, you might get a few minutes of the Yankees or the Phillies.

Dad's favorite was Ernie Harwell calling the Detroit Tigers. After dark, WJR had fairly reliable signal -- a little fuzz and hiss now and then, but mostly clear. And Ernie was a wonderful baseball broadcaster. With that sweet, southern drawl, he could read you the phone book and you wouldn't care.

Ernie's been retired for awhile and is, unfortunately, now in failing health. He's not long for the world. I found what follows on the inter-web. Here's to you Ernie!
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Broadcasting style of Ernie Harwell
He is known for his low-key delivery, southern accent (Detroit "Ti-guhs"), and conversational style, which included:
• Pausing periodically to allow the sounds of the ballpark to be heard.
• Frequently referring to the location of Tiger Stadium: "the corner of Michigan and Trumbull," or simply "the corner".
• Following up foul balls into the crowd with, "That one was caught by a fan from _____ ," and inserting the name of a nearby town or city. Before ticketing was computerized, blocks of tickets were shipped to retailers in certain cities. Harwell reportedly knew in some cases which city a particular ticket was originally sold in. As the tickets were available electronically, Harwell would simply choose whatever city struck his fancy. (Unless listeners realized that this was a jocular invention by Harwell, the catch-phrase could leave them wondering how Harwell "knew" where particular fans hailed from.)
• After a double play, "It's two for the price of one for the Tigers."
• Exclaiming on a called third strike, "He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by." (This was an allusion to a poem by Sam Walter Foss.)
• Also exclaiming on a called third strike, "He's out for excessive window shopping; looked at one too many."
• Describing a home run, "That ball is looooong gone!"
• Using the phrase "And the bases are loaded with Tigers" when Detroit had runners on all bases.
• Exclaiming "The Tigers are looking for some instant runs" when Detroit had fallen behind by more than two or three runs late in a game.
• When describing a meeting on the mound of a pitcher and manager or catcher, "They're having a confab at the mound."
• Describing a controversial ball/strike call, "And there's a strike on the outside edge, Mr. _____ (surname of umpire) said so."
• Beginning the first spring training broadcast of each season with a reading from Song of Solomon 2:11-12 (KJV): "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."
• Describing a swinging strikeout, "He took his cut, and now he takes his seat."
• On a Tiger manager's decision to allow the pitcher to work himself out of a jam: "He has decided to ride the rapids with the incumbent."
• When an opposing team was starting a rally, he would customize, e.g.: "The Blue Jays are flapping their wings a little...The Mariners are marinating...The Rangers are ranging all over the place..."
• Referring to some teams by their city names, e.g. "The Bostons" for the Red Sox, "The Clevelands" for the Indians, etc.
• When the Tigers had scored already and were threatening to score more: "Oh, the Tigers are kickin' up their heels here!"
• In the 1960s and '70s, when the Stroh Brewery Company was a sponsor of Tiger broadcasts, Harwell would punctuate tense moments late in a game with, "Hang on to your Stroh's!"