The day Ernie called Grandpa

On August 3, 2005, Grandpa Morgan turned 90. 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 — 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.

I have written about it before, but it's such a good story, I'm going to tell it again. A few months before his August birthday, I had contacted former Tigers announcer Ernie 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 left a message on our home phone one early July day. I was in Clarkston when Lori called me and said, "I think one of your friends is pranking you and pretending to be Ernie Harwell." I told her it probably was Ernie because I had written him a letter about Grandpa's 90th birthday.

I called him back and said he would try to make it out on August 3, but didn't think he could because he had a Blue Cross/Blue Shield event that day. He sent an autographed picture, a nice handwritten letter, and his best wishes. I had all of the items framed and prepared them for Grandpa's present.

A month later, 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 go into a state of confusion or something worse out when the call actually happened. Grandpa smiled a lot that day and had a wonderful time.

Grandpa loved the framed picture and letter, but the call really made his day.

An American legend. Calling an American legend. How cool!


One of the rare times that the phone call for Grandpa didn't require him to jump in the wrecker and go pick someone up. Ernie's call made his day.