"And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all."

Last year my friend Phil called me with Tiger tickets.
"They're good seats," he told me. "You want to go?"
I rarely turn down baseball tickets, and when Phil let me know our other best friend Aaron was going to be going, I knew I would be making another pilgrimage to Comerica Park.
A day or two before the game we found out how truly lucky we were to be getting tickets to that particular game.
After going public with the announcement that he had inoperable cancer, the legendary Tiger broadcaster Ernie Harwell said he planned to address the crowd at the game we were going to.
I don't remember who played in that game, and I don't remember who won, but I remember the way I felt hearing that old man speak.
I recorded his speech on my digital camera because I had a feeling I would want to see it again. I was right.
Last night, during the Red Wing game, it was announced that Harwell had died, that the cancer had finally ended his journey. It's a sad day for baseball, and a sad day for Detroit.
But I can't help but think of one line from his farewell speech.
I remember watching as a stadium full of people gave this little, wrinkled old man their undivided attention, and him closing his speech by saying, "And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all. No question about that."
It's only know that I realize it was Harwell who was great, the rest of us were just along for the ride.