Tiger Announcer Says He Was Fired

The 1991 season will be the last for Ernie Harwell as broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers.

Harwell, who has broadcast Tiger games for the past 31 seasons, said Wednesday he has been fired.

Also, Paul Carey, 63, who has been his partner in the booth for the past 18 years, said he plans to retire after the 1991 season.

Harwell, 72, who planned to continue working for another two or three years beyond 1991, said he was hurt by the decision.

“I realize that broadcasters don’t go on forever,” Harwell said. “But I was quite surprised when the one-year situation came up.

“I wanted to go farther and I wanted to work more years, but the station and the ballclub combined told me that they didn’t want me to broadcast Tiger baseball after 1991.”

Harwell received the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.