Tigers replace statue's missing glasses

DETROIT, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The Detroit Tigers said the glasses missing from the statue of longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell at Comerica Park are due to be replaced this week.

The team said a replacement pair for the glasses taken from the face of the statue several months ago will be replaced in time for Thursday's home game against Baltimore, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.

Omri Amrany of the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany in Fort Sheridan, Ill., the artist who oversaw the creation of the Hall of Famer's statue, said even the new glasses will not be theft-proof.

"We're going to attach them as strongly as possible," Amrany said, "but if somebody has a crowbar and a little persuasion, you cannot keep the glasses on anybody. Anything that can break a car can break a statue."

Tigers spokesman Ron Colangelo said it remains unclear how the glasses were taken from the statue just inside the main entrance to Comerica Park.

"With 43,000 people a night coming through your turnstiles," he said, "things happen."

Harwell was a broadcaster for the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and Baltimore Orioles before beginning a 42-year run with Detroit. He died in May 2010 at age 92.