Tigers fans salute Harwell at stadium

Associated Press

Detroit

Thousands of Detroit Tigers fans lined up outside Comerica Park Thursday to give beloved broadcaster Ernie Harwell the send-off he wanted, paying their respects as they shuffled past his casket and swapping their favorite memories of the Hall of Famer.

After waiting for more than eight hours, Westland resident Bud Sommerville entered the stadium’s front gate and approached Harwell’s open casket. He took some pictures of Harwell, who was dressed in his signature hat, then removed his own cap and placed it on his heart in a solemn farewell.

“I met him for the first time at the ballpark,” Sommerville, 54, said as he held back tears. “I guess the last time I will see him is at the ballpark.”

Harwell, considered by many Tigers fans to be the voice of summer, died Tuesday of cancer at age 92. Planning for Thursday’s public viewing began in September after Harwell was diagnosed with an inoperable form of the disease, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. Harwell’s attorney and friend Gary Spicer invited Dombrowski and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch to Harwell’s home, and Harwell asked to have the viewing at Comerica Park so fans could come.

“You can see that it didn’t make a difference what age, what color, what religion — you were touched by Ernie,” said Dombrowski, who greeted mourners after they paid their respects.

“There were so many people that said, ‘I never met him but I knew him.”’

Harwell’s casket was placed near a life-sized statue of the Hall of Fame broadcaster, microphone in hand, with the inscription, “The Tigers’ broadcasting legend and masterful storyteller for 42 seasons.”