There was no one quite like George.
If you grew up around Detroit, you either did a George Kell impression or you had a friend who did one better. Maybe it was the clipped delivery of the "game time temperuh-toor, fiftuh-fahve degrees," or perhaps a more-excited "Oh, he hit it a mile!" George -- just George, thank you -- was an everlasting sound of summer, a sound of baseball, a soothing, simple sound from a simpler time.
We mourn Kell's passing, at 86, not just because he was a warm man and a wonderfully evocative broadcaster, but because a chunk of our youth slips away with him. I gotta admit, when I heard the news Tuesday, the sounds flooded back, capped by this thought: For all the impersonations, George proved to be irreplaceable, and maybe that's why we kept doing them.
From 1959-1996, Kell did the Tigers play-by-play on TV, mostly alongside Al Kaline, and I can't tell you how many pleasant summer weekends he evoked. If you grew up following the Tigers as I did, you know what I mean when I say, "You ah so right, Mist-uh Kaline."
Whether it was Kell playfully scolding Kaline for giving away too many clues to the trivia question, or Kell sprinkling Arkansas-accented flavors on basic words, it was as entertaining as the Tigers were all those down years.
Kell was a Hall-of-Famer, one of the best third basemen ever, yet he never lingered on his own accomplishments, or needlessly derided players less adept. The game and the stories and his beloved Tigers were all that mattered, and when he shouted, "They're gonna wave him in!" and the churning Tiger scored on a close play at the plate, Kell's exuberance was real.
The sounds still echo, so many games and years later. There are other fine broadcasters in our area, certainly, but it takes time to become cherished, to rise above the noise, to be worthy of impersonations that, trust me, are tributes more than mimicry.
The past never stops its retreat, sadly, and Ol' George is gone. But then, he's really not. Because as I write this, I swear I hear him still.
You can reach Bob Wojnowski at bob.wojnowski@detnews.com">bob.wojnowski@detnews.com
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