The start of baseball season brings back fond memories of seasons past and the sights and sounds of the game. For generations of fans, some of the most treasured sounds were the distinctive voices and often-imitated trademark calls of play-by-play Tigers announcers Ernie Harwell (left) and George Kell (right), pictured above in the Tiger Stadium broadcast booth. The beloved broadcasters are also inextricably linked, for each played a role in advancing the other’s career.
In 1957, at the invitation of Baltimore Orioles radio announcer Harwell, the team’s third baseman, Kell, provided color commentary for broadcasts during a 10-day stint on the injury list. Two years later, the Tigers hired fan-favorite Kell — who had played for the team from 1946 to 1952 and appeared in five consecutive All-Star games — to do play-by-play with Van Patrick after his co-host, Mel Ott, was killed in an auto accident in 1958. When Patrick left the following year, the Tigers hired Harwell for the 1960 season upon Kell’s recommendation.
From 1960 to 1963, the duo switched off four-and-a-half innings apiece between the TV and radio booths for televised games and co-announced on radio-only days. Kell sat out the 1964 season to be closer to his family in Arkansas but returned to the television booth the next year, where he remained for 36 seasons. During 21 of those seasons, he teamed up with fellow Hall of Famer Al Kaline.
Meanwhile, Harwell stayed in the radio booth and is best remembered for sharing duties with Ray Lane and later Paul Carey for 19 seasons. At the end of the 1990 season, to the shock and eventual protests of Tiger fans, Harwell — a recipient of the Ford Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame — was fired by the team and WJR radio, though he was allowed to broadcast in 1991 for a farewell season. After Mike Ilitch purchased the team, Harwell returned to the radio booth in 1993, sharing duties with his replacements, Rick Rizzs and Bob Rathbun. He did telecasts for five seasons before returning to radio from 1999 to 2002.
Kell passed away in his sleep in 2009 at age 86. Fourteen months later, Harwell succumbed to cancer at 92. To countless Tigers, they remain the voices of summer.
This story originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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