Ernie Harwell, 1918-2010


from left, Howard Stitzel, George Kell, Ernie Harwell, 1961. Image courtesy of "Guy Incognito", MotownSports.com


I learned a couple of things about Ernie today. Current Tigers radio announcer Dan Dickerson read part of a poem that inspired Ernie's strikeout line, "He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by". The poem is "The House by the Side of the Road" by Sam Walter Foss. And Ernie would quote the song of Solomon when he talked about spring and the baseball season starting and "the voice of the turtle is heard in the land", which means a turtledove. I don't think I ever heard him explain that.