Pastime: Ernie Harwell Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell's
legendary career as the voice of the Detroit Tigers is well-known, but
what many current fans don't know is that he began his career in
Gotham. Harwell, who'll be on Talking Baseball Live with Gotham Baseball's own Paul Greco Wednesday Night at 8pm ET, has an excellent Audio Book covering his life in baseball.
Pastime: Ernie Harwell Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell's legendary career as the voice of the Detroit Tigers is well-known, but what many current fans don't know is that he began his career in Gotham. The Georgia native, who is beloved by the fans of Motown, started his pro career in the Capital of Baseball, painting the word picture for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. Fighting with Leo Durocher, sitting down the Joe DiMggio and chatting with Willie Mys ere how this charasmatic fellow broke into the big leagues.
You'll learn that interesting fact and more as you listen to the wonderful "Ernie Harwell's Audio Scrapbook," a evocative audio treasure that chronicles Harwell's 60-year broadcasting career. His familiar and warm narration draws in the listener a he recounts his earliest beginnings in the game.
Harwell, who served his country as a Marine in World War II, was doing play by play for the minor league Atlanta Crackers when Branch Rickey brought him to Brooklyn to team with Connie Desmond and Red Barber.
To seal the deal, Rickey sent the Crackers a catcher, making Harwell the only announcer ever traded for a player. In 1849, he witnessed Jackie Robinson's MVP campaign, and the next season, he moved on to call games for the hated NY Giants.
It was the Golden Age of Baseball in Gotham, and not only did he get to see Willie Mays' debut in 1951, later that year he made the lesser-known radio call of Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world." While Russ Hodges' "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" is what most people remember about that moment, Harwell's stunned "It's gone" might have become the staple of that great game had television been the medium it is today.
He moved on again, becoming the first voice of the Baltimore Orioles from 1954-59, and in 1960, his tenure in Motown began. He would be the team's identity for 30 years, and would be unceremoniously dumped by the Tigers in 1991, when his contract was "non-renewed" by the Tigers and then-flagship station WJR. After working a part-time schedule for the California Angels in 1992, popular outcry and a new team owner in Mike Ilitch led to his partial reinstatement in 1993 (Harwell called innings 3-5 that year on WJR) and would call games on both TV and until his final broadcast on September 29, 2002.
Frankly, Harwell is an American treasure, and this CD is one as well, as interviews with some of the game's greatest players can be heard; From a scratchy recording of his 1940 interview with Connie Mack to recordings of his encounters with Willie Mays and Ted Williams, it's a baseball fan's treat.
The four-CD box set is available now at http://www.eharwell.com, and a special autographed version is available as well.
Pastime: Ernie Harwell Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell's
legendary career as the voice of the Detroit Tigers is well-known, but
what many current fans don't know is that he began his career in
Gotham. Harwell, who'll be on 
Harwell, who served his country as a Marine in World War II, was doing play by play for the minor league Atlanta Crackers when Branch Rickey brought him to Brooklyn to team with Connie Desmond and Red Barber. 
