Baseball historian Marc Okkonen grew up listening to Heilmann's broadcasts and later recalled Heilmann's tendency to drop the letter "r" from the end of words, referring to Hal Newhouser as "Newhousa" and Bob Feller as "Fellah". He also recalled that one of Heilmann's sponsors was a fly spray called Bugaboo; when an outfielder would catch a fly ball, Heilmann would proclaim, "Bugaboo! Another dead fly!" Okkonenen also recalled Heilmann's most memorable line, uttered after outstanding plays, when he would remain silent to emphasize the crowd noise and say, "Listen ... to the voice of baseball." In March 1946, Heilmann sustained five broken ribs and a broken chest bone in an automobile accident in Florida during spring training. Despite the injuries, he broadcast the Tigers games from opening day forward during the 1946 season. On September 11, 1948, the Tigers held a Harry Heilmann Day at Briggs Stadium. He was honored between games of a double-header and presented with a solid gold pass for all games played at Briggs Stadium. Death Heilmann was ill for much of the winter after the 1950 season. On March 14, 1951, he collapsed at the Tigers' spring training camp in Lakeland, Florida. He was hospitalized at Morrell Hospital in Lakeland, and the Detroit Free Press reported two days later that he was in critical condition with a lung condition. At the end of March, after two weeks in the Lakeland hospital, the Tigers' owner Walter O. Briggs flew Heilmann back to Detroit on his private plane. Heilmann was taken by ambulance from the airport to Henry Ford Hospital, where he remained hospitalized. He remained hospitalized through the month of April, and Ty Tyson was selected to fill in for Heilmann on Tiger broadcasts during Heilmann's illness. Heilmann was released from the hospital and returned home in May 1951. On June 1, 1951, he was greeted warmly by the crowd when he and his wife attended a game at Briggs Stadium. He also returned briefly to the Tiger broadcasts in early June, sharing the duties with Tyson and Paul Williams. Heilmann was hospitalized again at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on June 24 as his condition worsened, and he died there on July 9, 1951. It was only after his death that it was disclosed that the nature of his illness was lung cancer. Detroit mayor Albert Cobo recalled that Heilmann's radio broadcasts made him "almost