Ernie Harwell fans will get to relive some of the famed baseball announcer’s past in a new play called, appropriately enough, “Ernie.”
The play, which opens Thursday, Apr. 28 at the City Theatre in Detroit, was written by Mitch Albom. The story takes place on the night the beloved Tigers announcer gave his farewell speech at Comerica Park. Before his speech, he runs into a young baseball fan, who coaxes Harwell to reflect on his own life.
The play also includes vintage footage of Harwell, including some of his most famous calls.
Veteran Michigan actor Will David Young plays Ernie, which he calls "the biggest rush" he's ever experienced:
"So many people considered Ernie a grandfather figure, uncle figure, father figure. People who knew him well considered him a mentor with his gentleness, humor, humanitiy; it’s daunting playing a figure like that."
As for that famous Harwell cadence? Young says he tried to get into "that touch of Georgia twang."
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