Sports / Press & broadcasting
Harry Heilmann
1894–1951 · baseball player, radio announcer
Four-time batting champion for the Tigers who hit .403 in 1923, then became the team's beloved radio voice from 1934 to 1950.
- Born
San Francisco, California- Died
Southfield, Michigan
aged 56- Birth name
- Harry Edwin Heilmann
- Also known as
- Slug
- Detroit years
- 1914–1951
- Field
- Sports, Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Heilmann came to the Tigers from San Francisco in 1914 and, after a year back in the minors, played in Detroit from 1916 to 1929. A right-handed line-drive hitter, he won four American League batting titles in odd-numbered years, 1921, 1923, 1925 and 1927, and his .403 average in 1923 remains one of the highest of the century. He also became a local hero off the field: in 1916 he dove into the Detroit River to rescue a woman whose car had rolled into the water. After his playing days he stayed in Detroit, ran for city treasurer and in 1934 began calling Tigers games on radio, first on WXYZ and a statewide network while Ty Tyson worked WWJ. For a generation of Michigan listeners he was the voice of summer until illness forced him out after 1950. He died in 1951 and was elected to the Hall of Fame months later.
Highlights
- American League batting champion in 1921, 1923, 1925 and 1927
- Hit .403 for the Tigers in 1923
- Tigers radio play-by-play announcer 1934–1950
- Rescued a woman from the Detroit River in 1916
- Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1914–1929, 1934–1950
Tiger Stadium site (Navin Field), now The Corner Ballpark
Demolished · 1912–1999
His home field as a player and later his broadcast booth; demolished in 2008–2009.
Buried here · 1951
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Heilmann is buried in the family plot (Section 16).