{"id":4873,"date":"2010-05-05T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2010-05-05T18:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=4873"},"modified":"2010-05-05T11:35:08","modified_gmt":"2010-05-05T18:35:08","slug":"so-long-mr-harwell-you-will-be-missed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/05\/so-long-mr-harwell-you-will-be-missed\/","title":{"rendered":"So Long Mr. Harwell, you will be missed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was late September, 2002.\u00c2\u00a0 I had a busy week scheduled.\u00c2\u00a0 Fly out to Kansas City, MO to do a broadcast with the Kansas City Royals and return home and get married on that Saturday.\u00c2\u00a0 My first big league broadcast.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Royals invited the announcers from some of their minor league affiliates to come out and appear on broadcasts and do a few innings of play-by-play.\u00c2\u00a0 The Royals were not in contention and were playing the Tigers.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, it was great to be in the booth with Ryan Lefebvre and Denny Matthews, but with the Tigers in town, I was also pretty sure that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be able to meet Ernie Harwell.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

We were in the Royals radio booth and after entering the booth to our right and dropping his bags down, he entered to say hello.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryan made the introduction.\u00c2\u00a0 We shook hands and he wished me all the best in my broadcasting endeavors.\u00c2\u00a0 A two-minute conversation and a few minutes more of watching him engage in conversation with others and I quickly realized that everything I had heard and read about Mr. Harwell was true.\u00c2\u00a0 He was a gentleman.\u00c2\u00a0 Gracious and genuine with everyone that he spoke with, as if we had been friends for years.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hard to say that doing a big league broadcast and meeting Mr. Harwell in the same day was the highlight of the week when you consider I got married a few days later, but to this day, I can say what a week!<\/p>\n

A few years later when I was hosting a baseball radio show in Wilmington, DE, I called the Tigers PR department to see if they could help me in getting a hold of Mr. Harwell for a phone interview.\u00c2\u00a0 The person that I spoke to said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d take care of it and that I should expect a call in the next day or two.\u00c2\u00a0 I was told that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ernie\u00e2\u20ac\u009d didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t turn down too many requests.\u00c2\u00a0 The call came and I immediately knew the voice on the other end of the phone.\u00c2\u00a0 We chatted for a few minutes, I asked about his wife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health and he said he was looking forward to our chat on the show.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

We did the interview live and at the end I asked him to recite the poem that he did on the day he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

He did it like he had done hundreds of times before.\u00c2\u00a0 Perfect.\u00c2\u00a0 In case you have not read it prior, here are the final two sentences.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball! Thank you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you, Mr. Harwell.\u00c2\u00a0 Thank you. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Darvish may be on his way\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6where will the spending insanity take us this time?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tom Verducci wrote recently (April 23) on www.si.com<\/a> that Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish might be in the big leagues as early as next season.\u00c2\u00a0 The 23-year-old plays for the Nippon Ham Fighters and the club may put him through the posting process during the offseason.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a few years away from free agency.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remember a few years ago when the Red Sox paid $51 million for the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka and agent Scott Boras?\u00c2\u00a0 Could a club possibly put up that kind of money again?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

I emailed Wayne Graczyk, who covers Japanese baseball for several outlets, including The Japan Times,<\/em> and he shared his thoughts on Darvish.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are rumors this might be the year Darvish gets posted, as the Fighters are not doing well and might need the money,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Graczyk. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At this point, I think he is better than Matsuzaka but have no idea how much a MLB team would pay for his posting. His former manager, Trey Hillman, said in 2007, “Darvish has a chance to be the best pitcher in the world in a few years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

It could be interesting to see if some clubs hold back on spending big in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s draft in order to have the monetary funds available to get involved if Darvish is made available during the 2010-11 offseason.<\/p>\n

Matsuzaka has not completely performed up to expectations, but perhaps those expectations were unrealistic.\u00c2\u00a0 I wonder if the Red Sox have recouped that money based on their business opportunities within the Japanese market.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sugar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Observations\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former prospect Joe Borchard went 5-for-6 with 6 RBIs and hit for the cycle on Monday in the Fresno Grizzlies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (PCL) 14-4 win over Colorado Springs.\u00c2\u00a0 In recent conversation with Grizzlies play-by-play man, Doug Greenwald (one of the truly great guys in the game), I asked about Borchard and what type of attitude Borchard has as he begins another season in the minors.\u00c2\u00a0 Borchard has gone from one-time top prospect to a guy who has been at the Triple-A level every year since 2002, with the exception of 2006 when he combined to appear in 114 games at the big league level with the Florida Marlins and Seattle Mariners.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Doug had to say about Borchard\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

“I think he’s a guy that a lot of people look up to.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s a team guy and is willing to offer advice on how to get there and on working your way up.\u00c2\u00a0 You know he’s been around for a while and the guys respect him.\u00c2\u00a0 For Triple-A, he’s still young for a veteran guy at this level.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Scott McClain was with Grizzlies for the past couple of seasons.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t think they would be playing if they did not have that goal to get back to the big leagues.\u00c2\u00a0 The Giants signed\u00c2\u00a0a guy they like both on and off the field.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of Borchard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teammates with Fresno is top prospect, Buster Posey, who could be in the big leagues very soon.\u00c2\u00a0 Doug also offered his thoughts on the Giants potential backstop of the future.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here primarily\u00c2\u00a0as a catcher, but he’s also played a lot of first base and did in spring training.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a lot of talk that he would make the club out of spring training.\u00c2\u00a0 He looked really good at first base.\u00c2\u00a0 He needs work on catching\u00c2\u00a0pop ups, turning 3-6-3 and\u00c2\u00a0knowing where to be on cutoffs.\u00c2\u00a0 He still needs to learn about catching.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a very good level to learn because the\u00c2\u00a0hitters are advanced.\u00c2\u00a0 A lot of them have been to the big leagues or big league camp.\u00c2\u00a0 He has to know that at the big league level that\u00c2\u00a0if something does not go the way it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supposed to, that he’s going to the pitching coach and manager.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 He only caught his\u00c2\u00a0last year at Florida State.\u00c2\u00a0 They drafted him No. 5 in the country as a catcher.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posey will be expected to produce offensively once at the big league level, but as Doug pointed out to me, the starting staff is not the easiest to handle as a catcher with Lincecum, Zito, Cain and Sanchez.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Great to see Darnell McDonald make the most of his opportunity after being called up from the minors by the Red Sox recently.\u00c2\u00a0 McDonald was a first-round pick (26th<\/sup> overall) by the Orioles in 1997.\u00c2\u00a0 The Orioles took Jayson Werth four picks earlier at No. 22.\u00c2\u00a0 At pick No. 36, Baltimore selected Ntema Ndungidi.\u00c2\u00a0 I have got nothing on Ndungidi except in seeing him in the minors, his name was pronounced differently every series and his nickname was Pappi.<\/p>\n

Currently reading Peter Golenbock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book on George Steinbrenner and found a terrible error.\u00c2\u00a0 The book states on page 199 that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153teams fate was sealed on September 1,when Thurman Munson crashed his plane and died as he was practicing touch-and-gos at a small airport in Canton, OH, his hometown\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 Mr. Munson died on August 2, 1979.\u00c2\u00a0 Hard to believe that would happen with the author having written several books on the Yankees.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Monday will be the debut of our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on 2nd<\/sup>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Seamheads.com Podcast Radio Show\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 Mike Lynch, the mastermind behind seamheads.com, and I will co-host.\u00c2\u00a0 Show debuts on Monday, May 10 at 9:00 p.m. EST.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0–End–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0 It was late September, 2002.\u00c2\u00a0 I had a busy week scheduled.\u00c2\u00a0 Fly out to Kansas City, MO to do a broadcast with the Kansas City Royals and return home and get married on that Saturday.\u00c2\u00a0 My first big league broadcast.\u00c2\u00a0 The Royals invited the announcers from some of their minor league affiliates to come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":719,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,9,78],"tags":[6051,2443,6998,7005,6914,4455,5309,7004,7000,792,5250,5874,7002,185,2928,7003,7001,5883,6999,1108],"class_list":["post-4873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-general","category-minors","tag-broadcasts","tag-contention","tag-denny-matthews","tag-endeavors","tag-ernie-harwell","tag-few-days","tag-few-minutes","tag-gentleman","tag-kansas-city-mo","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-late-september","tag-minor-league-affiliates","tag-minute-conversation","tag-phone-interview","tag-play-by-play","tag-pr-department","tag-radio-booth","tag-radio-show","tag-ryan-lefebvre","tag-tigers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/719"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}