Nobody knows better what Ernie Harwell meant to baseball in Michigan than Kirk Gibson. "I grew up basically in the Detroit area and I listened to Ernie Harwell as long as I can remember," the former Tigers slugger said. "He was Mr. Everything. He was an icon." Beloved by generations of fans who grew up enraptured by his rich voice, Southern cadence and quirky phrases on the radio , Harwell died Tuesday after a months-long battle with cancer. He was 92.