New York ? Ernie Harwell jogged to the mound, threw out the first ball and shook Roger Clemens’ hand.

Then, after getting a nice gift from New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, Harwell hurried off the field Sunday. The 84-year-old Hall of Fame announcer scurried to the place where he feels most comfortable the broadcast booth.

He had another game to call.

Harwell, the “Voice of the Tigers” for 42 of the last 43 years, is retiring after this season, and he was honored before his final game at Yankee Stadium.

“I’ve seen a lot of great games and a lot of great players here,” said Harwell, who figures he has announced more than 8,300 major league games.

Harwell has been in the business for 55 years. Recently, the Cleveland Indians named the visiting announcer’s booth at Jacobs Field in his honor.

Harwell’s first full-time job in the big leagues came in 1948, when he began doing play-by-play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He also worked for the New York Giants and Baltimore Orioles before going to Detroit.

His said his most memorable game was the 1951 playoff between the Giants and Dodgers for the NL pennant, the one that Bobby Thomson won with a bottom-of-the-ninth home run at the Polo Grounds.

Harwell called that game on television, but it was radio announcer Russ Hodges’ exclamation of “The Giants win the pennant!” that became one of the most famous moments in sports broadcasting history.

“I just said, ‘It’s gone!’ and then the pictures took over,” Harwell recalled.

Yankees pitcher Jeff Weaver, who was traded from Detroit to New York this season, said he’ll miss Harwell.

“His voice is recognized by everyone. Everyone knew when Harwell came through,” Weaver said. “It’ll be sad to see him go.”