Happy Birthday to Ernie Harwell

Yesterday was Ernie Harwell's 90th birthday.

On August 3, 2005, he made a very important phone call. He called my grandpa, Dick Morgan, on his very own 90th birthday. I have written about the event here before, but Grandpa was a legend in Clarkston, Mich. He opened a gas and service station in 1932 at the age of 16. Yes, during the onset of the Great Depression.

Morgan's Service is still going strong today.

Grandpa's 90th birthday celebration was held right at Morgan's Service.

A few months before I had contacted Mr. Harwell about coming to the party because in 1989, my grandpa was quoted in Sports Illustrated as saying he worked every day "...until five minutes to Ernie."

Ernie called me and said he would try to make it out on August 3, but didn't think he could because he had a BC/BS event that day. I was heading out of Alma, Mich., actually sitting in the parking lot of the 7–11 when my phone vibrated. It was a "248" number, so I figured it was somebody calling from Clarkston wondering where we were or if we could bring something.

The voice was unmistakable, though: "Hi, Rick, today's the big guy's birthday, right?" Holy cow, Ernie Harwell called my cell phone. We chatted for a few minutes and he said he would call in the afternoon.

We tipped Grandpa off about the potential call because we didn't want him to freak out when it actually happened. Grandpa smiled a lot that day and had a wonderful time.

Ernie retired from the Tigers after the 2002 season. He was a great announcer, a wonderful voice. When he signed off of Fox Sports, it was a sad moment.



Ernie Harwell, the voice of the Detroit Tigers. The voice of a generation. When you think about Ernie, you cannot help but think of Grandpa Morgan. A great man!