(AP Photo/Paul Warner)

Tigers announcer Harwell has incurable cancer

By DAVID N. GOODMAN,

DETROIT (AP) Longtime Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell says he has inoperable cancer but is in good spirits and appreciates the good wishes he's received from hundreds of fans.

The 91-year-old Baseball Hall of Famer spent 42 of his 55 years as a broadcaster calling Tigers games.

Harwell told The Associated Press on Friday he began feeling bad this summer. After a number of tests, doctors days ago advised him against surgery. He says he has a tumor near a bile duct.

The suburban Detroit resident says he's comfortable now but knows he faces pain in the days and weeks ahead.

He was in the Tigers' broadcast booth from 1960 to 2002.

Harwell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1989.

Updated September 4, 2009