Harwell overcame speech impediment to become the voice of the Tigers

As a boy, Ernie Harwell overcame a stammer and lisp. In his years as Tiger broadcaster he was known for the rich timber of his baritone voice.

As a boy, Ernie Harwell overcame a stammer and lisp. In his years as Tiger broadcaster he was known for the rich timber of his baritone voice.

Like all play-by-play announcers, Ernie Harwell employed several pet phrases during his 55 years in the booth. Unlike many of the current crop of broadcasters, however, Ernie’s signature calls never seemed contrived. They evolved organically, none more so than his trademark call for a called strike: “He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by.”

That particular phrase had extra meaning for Ernie. When he was a boy growing up in Georgia in the 1920s, he had a serious speech disorder. He stuttered and a had a serious lisp that prevented him from pronouncing the letter S. Little Ernie was a lovable bundle of energy, and his impediment was the cause of some good-natured ribbing by family and friends. But his father was wise enough to realize that the world wouldn’t be nearly so forgiving when Ernie was an adult. “We need to get that boy some help,” he announced one night after hearing his five-year-old son stammer his way through a conversation at the dinner table.

“They didn’t have much money,” Ernie would say later of his parents, “but they spent what they had sending me to speech teachers to overcome that handicap.” One of Ernie’s phonetic exercises was to recite a poem written by Sam Walter Foss, a late 19th-century New Hampshire poet noted for his vigorous, common-man verse. The last lines of the poem are:

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by –
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban –
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

That final stanza speaks to one of Ernie’s distinguishing core virtues: a magnanimous spirit toward all people, no matter how flawed. “I know a lot of you people who’ve heard me on the radio still think I’m tongue-tied,” he joked during his Hall-of-Fame induction speech. “But, through the grace of God, officially I’m not tongue-tied anymore.”

4 replies on “Harwell overcame speech impediment to become the voice of the Tigers

  • Rick

    I know I’m not alone in saying this but I LOVED Ernie Harwell! I’mm sure this has to do with my age but I take great pleasure anytime I can catch Vin Scully doing a Dodger game. The last of the TRULY great one’s! It’s sad to see the sorry state of announcer’s in the game now and we have the worst of the worst with Rod and Mario! A couple of buffoons in every way. Don’t you just adore how Rod does his To day or any other words he has to draw out. What is that? And how does Fox sports put up with these two? Please isn’t there any announcer’s out there that can just call THE game and leave all the joking and ha ha’s with each other to themselves!? Why does Mario and Rod have to constantly kiss each other’s behinds? The two of them make me sick. Glad I have the mute button!

  • Chris Revard Jr

    I concur with Rick. Why do they need so many announcers in the booth? When they have a guest on, they forget about calling the game and we can go a couple batters before their conversation is done. If you are unable to multitask, interview and call the game, then you should not have guests on. In addition, the term “buggy whip” should be limited to once a series. I am very thankful for the MLB package where I can listen to other announcers.

  • Charles Hench

    I remember when a foul ball would land in the stands Ernie would say something like” a young man from Livonia Michigan dug that one out of the seats!”. Like he knew.

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