Mitch Albom is writing a play about Ernie Harwell. Oy.

Ernie Harwell was humble. He was genuine. He was thoughtful. In other words, he was just about everything that Mitch Albom is not. Which makes it all the more painful that Albom is doing this:

Best-selling author Mitch Albom is planning a stage play based on the life of the late Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell. Albom said Thursday that the show called “Ernie” will premiere next year at the City Theatre in Detroit. Casting will begin in November.Albom says Harwell’s “story transcends sports” and “is a rich and wonderful subject for the stage.”

Know what else was cool about Ernie Harwell? He never thought that he “transcended sports” at all. You listened to a Tigers game, you got the Tigers game. Expertly announced, of course, but it was about the Tigers game. If Harwell made a public appearance, you can bet your life that 97% of his time and effort would be spent talking about Bobby Thomson, Brooks Robinson, Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Kirk Gibson or Bobby Higginson, not Ernie Harwell. Or at least not unless he was goaded into doing so by an interviewer or panelist.

That said, I think a play about Ernie Harwell could be pretty cool. I just think Mitch Albom is probably the least-equipped person on the planet to do it.