Motor City Bengals » Ernie Harwell

Welcoming Opening Day, Ernie Harwell Style

Zac Snyder — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:17:01 +0000

Happy Opening … [visit site to read more]

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Detroit Tigers Opening Day Countdown: 2 Days

Matt Snyder — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:00:09 +0000

Previously:
15 Days: Number of Ryan Raburn Home Runs in 2010
14 Days: Number of Cards in 2003 Topps Base Set
13 Days: Number of Starts by Jacob Turnerfor Lakeland in 2010
12 Days: Number of Franchise Playoff Appearances
11 Days: Number of Tigers Rookie Debuts in 2010
10 Days: Number American League Pennants Won
9 Days: Number Consecutive Years With Only One All-Star
8 Days: All-time Rank in Interleague Play Win Percentage
7 Days: Number of Victories until Jim Leyland Reaches Career Win Number 1500
6 Days: Attendance Rank in 2010
5 Days: Number of Major League Starts Made By Andy Oliver in 2010
4 Days: Number of Consecutive Opening Day Starts by Justin Verlander
3 Days: Number of Division Titles in Team History

This isn’t going to be a fun post to write. Because with only two days remaining in our countdown, we pause to remember two people that we all lost last year.

The news of Ernie Harwell’s passing wasn’t shocking, we knew that he had been battling cancer and that it was only a matter of time, but I don’t think any of us were ready for it, because I don’t think any of us expected him to die.

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The Sports Pages: Cleaning up from TigerFest

John J. Parent — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:05:36 +0000

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records man’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”

- Earl Warren

Let the countdown officially begin. With the annual TigerFest over the weekend at Comerica Park, the next time you see your Detroit Tigers, it will be in Lakeland, FL as they report to Spring Training. I didn’t personally get to attend this year, but I enjoyed watching the online stream. Matt Wallace of Bless You Boys fame ( and Take 75 North before that) was there with his camera, however, and BYB has the photos. The weekend also brought an encore presentation of the late Ernie Harwell’s appearance on MLBNetwork’s “Studio 42 with Bob Costas.” I watched it twice on Friday evening. I know this probably is getting a bit off-track before I really even get into this post, but man how I loved hearing his voice again. It will always never be the same without him.

Of course, Ernie wasn’t the only Tiger to be taken from us this past year. Former manager Sparky Anderson will be honored during the upcoming season with a uniform patch that will be worn by the Tigers all year long. In addition, Dave Dombrowski announced that Sparky’s number 11 will be retired at a ceremony at some point this season.

I was there when the Tigers honored Sparky and his 1984 Tigers with a pre-game ceremony in 2009. It was the last time he was in Detroit. Like many of his players, Sparky was the main reason I made the trip to the game that night. The weather was terrible -it was cold and rainy- so much so that the game itself was postponed. But I got to see my World Champion Tigers again and hey, I even won a few bucks at Greektown once the game was called. A ceremony to retire his number won’t mean quite as much without Sparky in attendance, but I imagine it will be a tough ticket anyhow. An honor long overdue for Captain Hook.

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