Ernie Harwell Quotes
I`ve been lucky to broadcast some great events and to broadcast the exploits of some great players.
I love the game because it`s so simple, yet it can be so complex. There`s a lot of layers to it, but they aren`t hard to peel back.
A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That`s baseball.
God blessed me by putting me here for thirty-one years at Michigan and Trumbull.
But most of all, I`m a part of you people out there who have listened to me, because especially you people in Michigan, you Tiger fans, you`ve given me so much warmth, so much affection and so much love.
When I went to Brooklyn in 1948 Jackie Robinson was at the height of his brilliant career.
That other saying, I`m a part of all that I have met, I think that would have to begin with my wonderful parents back in Atlanta when I was a youngster five years old I was tongue tied.
Baseball is a lot like life. It`s a day-to-day existence, full of ups and downs. You make the most of your opportunities in baseball as you do in life.
If I walked back into the booth in the year 2025, I don`t think it would have changed much. I think baseball would be played and managed pretty much the same as it is today. It`s a great survivor.
I think I owe thanks to the people who have listened to me over the years, who tuned in on the radio. They have given me a warmth and loyalty that I`ve never been able to repay. The way they have reached out to me has certainly been the highlight of my life.
Also I`m a part of the people that I`ve worked with in baseball that have been so great to me, Mr. Earl Mann of Atlanta, who gave me my first baseball broadcasting job.
We had a dog in those days named Blue Grass and the players used to give us their Wheaties for him. Blue Grass loved Wheaties and so did I.
Baseball just a came as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.
I`d like to be remembered as someone who showed up for the job. I consider myself a worker.
I had a job to do, and I did it all these years to the best of my ability. That`s what I`d like to leave behind as I finish my final game in Toronto.
I decided very early that I was going to be a reporter, that I would not cheer for the team. I don`t denigrate people who do it. It`s fine.
Especially in this strike filled year but my feelings about the game are still the same as they were back then and I think that maybe yours are too.
I praise the Lord here today. I know that all my talent and all my ability comes from him, and without him I`m nothing and I thank him for his great blessing.
With the Giants I broadcast the debut of Hall of Famer Willie Mays.
I love what I do. If I had my time over again, I`d probably do it for nothing.
