Ernie Harwell Final Farewell, Thanks Ernie!

Ernie Harwell is best known for calling balls, strikes and home runs for the Detroit Tigers for 42 years. He retired in 2002 and earlier this month was diagnosed with inoperable, incurable cancer of his bile duct.  

Last night at Comerica Park, in the middle of the third inning of the Tigers win against the Kansas City Royals, he said what will probably his last goodbye to the Tigers, their fans and the city of Detroit.  Harwell thanked the Tigers organization, specifically Mike Ilitch and Dave Dombrowski.  He declared that there were no better fans than Tigers fans.  And he told of his love for the state of Michigan and the "grit" of those who live here.  All while the crowd at Comerica cheered.  I think the "sweetest sorrow" part of his speech was when he said that the best part of his life, his story, was that it would end here in Michigan.  

Once again, Ernie revealed how humble and thankful he is to have had the career he did.  He was the first announcer inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame while still working.  He will also be named honorary captain this Sunday as the Lions take on the Vikings at 1pm at Ford Field.  Ernie is truly a legend of baseball, and he will always be remembered.

Afternoon out at Comerica Park

I did not make it to the Detroit Tigers opening day at Comerica Park... but I did go see the game the day after opening day.  Their opponent was the same (the Texas Rangers) and the result was the same (Tigers win!!!) but the crowd was not (the stadium was lacking 4,000 fans).

Tigers game watchees included, the fiance, my youngest brother and myself.

We tried to park at the Motor City Casino, because usually you can park there for free and then walk over to the park.  When we got there they were charging $10 per car.  No way.  So we continued toward the tunnel and turned up Brush St. and found a lot with other cars parked in it and this crazy guy with orange hair who may have been speaking Swahili... we don't know.  But we parked for $5 and were still within walking distance.

Usually as I am walking to an event like this there are tons of entrepreneurs along the route offering tickets for a cash only price that may or may not be the value of the ticket, but this day was different.  All of those entrepreneurs were looking to purchase tickets.  Which made us a little worried that Comerica had sold all their tickets.  Nonetheless we found our way to the box office and purchased 3 tickets for section 148 in left field for under $50.  

Whenever I am at a sporting event I tend to get a little thirsty which was the case this day.  Now there are many beer stands at Comerica.  There is even a bar... brand new and called the Jungle.  But there is nothing better than having someone bring you your own adult beverage so you don't have to miss an instant of the game.  This is where my new friend Juan comes in.  He happens to be a beer vendor at Comerica.  Outgoing, personable, trustworthy and hardworking Juan supplied us with cold adult beverages during the game (at the ridiculous price of $6.75 / tall boy).  Thank you Juan for all your help and regional bar knowledge (Juan invited us to an after game party at The Town Pump, presumable with the other vendors, but was unable to give decipherable directions to Harry's).

INGE VS. GUILLEN?

One other thing that made the game very interesting was the fans.  There seemed to be very divided camps rooting for different players on the Tigers, even to the point of getting kicked out of the park for arguing for their player.  One such camp of fans was located to our right, who were dedicated Brandon Inge fans, noted by their Brandon Inge jerseys and for cheering him at every at bat.  Sitting in front of the Inge fans were Carlos Guillen fans, again noted for their Guillen jerseys and cheers for "Carlos!"  Now Inge and Guillen do not play the same position (Guillen was in left field, Inge was at 3rd base) and they both were playing that day which is what perplexes my about what followed.  During every Inge at bat, the Guillen fans would boo and hassle the Inge fans, pointing to the G-u-i-l-l-e-n on the back of their jerseys and even giving the Inge fans "the bird."  This kept on until an Inge fan ran down the aisle to the Guillen fans seats and got in their face.  The Guillen fans, not wanting to be outdone by the Inge fans, yelled and pushed back and eventually three guys were escorted out of the ball park by two very brave ushers.  I did not see any punches thrown but still, these guys PLAY FOR THE SAME TEAM!  For the record I am a fan of Guillen AND Inge because I am a fan of the Detroit Tigers baseball team.