DETROIT -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, the voice for the Tigers for more than four decades and an icon for the Tigers well beyond his retirement from broadcasting in 2002, has been diagnosed with cancer.
Harwell has an incurable tumor around his bile duct. He revealed the diagnosis in Friday's edition of the Detroit Free Press, for whom he has worked as a columnist for several years, and where he explained his outlook. Gary Spicer, his longtime friend and attorney, confirmed the condition to MLB.com.
"We don't know how long this lasts," Harwell told the newspaper in a phone interview. "It could be a year. It could be much less than a year, much less than a half a year. Who knows?
"Whatever's in store, I'm ready for a new adventure. That's the way I look at it."
Harwell, 91, was hospitalized for a few weeks with a bile duct obstruction. He returned to his home in suburban Detroit while doctors ran tests and was under orders to rest, though he still remained pretty active with his work, he told MLB.com recently, as he awaited news on what was causing the trouble.
The tests soon revealed the tumor and the outlook, and provided "pretty conclusive" evidence, Spicer said. Harwell's spirit, however, has remained surprisingly strong.
"I think that when I heard the news -- that I had this cancer -- that I had a feeling of security and serenity," Harwell told the Free Press, "but I had a feeling of acceptance because of my belief in Jesus and the Lord."
Spicer said Harwell has elected not to undergo any surgery, nor chemotherapy or any radiation treatment. He will remain at home and spend time with family and friends.
"He has elected, with his family, to treat it in a more spiritual manner," Spicer said.
Harwell's life and his ability to remain incredibly active into his 90s has become an example for people across the state through his role as a spokesperson for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. He has long credited his daily workouts, including walking and jumping rope, for helping him work for so long on Tigers radio broadcasts and defy the conventional limitations of his age well after he left the baseball airwaves.
Until this year, Spicer said, "aside from taking a thyroid pill, I haven't been aware of any medical needs. He's been in fantastic medical condition, and his way of life has been conducive to good health."
Now that Harwell has received a worst-case prognosis, he has been forced to cut back on a lot of those activities. He will close out his spokesperson engagements shortly and will write three more columns in the Free Press this month.
Still, he told the paper that he isn't in pain, and he joked that he has been able to eat like a kid again as he tries to keep up his weight. He's working on a book compilation of his recent columns, and Spicer said he has been actively adding to his collection of baseball artifacts and memorabilia.
Spicer said Harwell has already received hundreds of calls and requests from well-wishers. He said that fans who wish to send Harwell a message can reach the broadcaster through his office, which will then forward the messages.
Harwell spent 55 seasons broadcasting in the Major Leagues, the last 42 of them in Detroit. He became known as the radio voice of the Tigers through generations of fans, from the 1968 team that won the World Series to the 1984 club that did the same. He was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, and he compiled what is now a renowned collection of baseball artifacts and memorabilia.
All the while, his conversational style and Southern accent from his days as the voice of the Minor League Atlanta Crackers on radio during World War II became part of the sound of Michigan summers. Through Harwell, fans came to know Tiger Stadium by its location on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, and recognized home runs as "looong gone!" For several years, even after Harwell's retirement, the scoreboard at Comerica Park would celebrate a called third strike with Harwell's phrase that the batter "stood there like a house by the side of the road."
Harwell broke into the big leagues in 1948 as part of a trade between the Crackers and Brooklyn Dodgers, who had to send Minor League catcher Cliff Dapper to Atlanta to get the Crackers to let Harwell out of his broadcasting contract with them. Harwell had the national radio play-by-play call when Bobby Thomson hit "The Shot Heard Round the World" in 1951 for the Giants to win their National League playoff against the Dodgers.
Harwell signed on to do radio play-by-play for the Tigers in 1960 and, with the exception of one year, called Tigers games through 2002. Though he never played a game in a Detroit uniform, his ability to bring the game to fans has made him one of the most beloved sports figures in the city.
That makes his latest news a heartbreaking development for fans in Detroit.
"I'd like to thank them for their loyalty and support over the years, certainly, and their affection, which I don't know if I deserved or not, but I accept it," Harwell said.
Hopefully they can take some comfort through Harwell's upbeat nature. His words, again, are going out to Tigers fans.
"I really feel good. I've got a great attitude. I just look forward to a new adventure," Harwell told the paper. "God gives us so many adventures, and I've had some great ones. It's been a terrific life. Of course, the best thing that ever happened to me was my wife, Lulu. I'm just happy that we were able to reach our 68th wedding anniversary."
