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Jerry Howarth

Jerry Howarth
Born (1946-03-12) March 12, 1946 (age 78)
York, Pennsylvania
CitizenshipAmerican 1946-present
Canadian 1994-present
Alma materUniversity of Santa Clara
OccupationToronto Blue Jays play-by-play announcer
Years active1981–2017

Jerry Howarth (born March 12, 1946) is an American Canadian former sports commentator, best known as the radio play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1981 through the 2017 season.

Howarth had shared the play-by-play duties with his late longtime broadcast partner Tom Cheek from 1982 until 2005, then served as the play-by-play announcer until announcing his retirement before the start of spring training 2018 due to ongoing health concerns.

Early career

Born in York, Pennsylvania, and raised in San Francisco, California, Howarth grew up an avid sports fan. He graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Santa Clara in 1968, then served two years as an officer in the U.S. Army. He launched his career as a sportscaster in 1974 by calling play-by-play action for AAA baseball's Tacoma Twins of the Pacific Coast League, as well as basketball and football for the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

In 1976, Howarth became the play-by-play voice of the Salt Lake City Gulls, also of the Pacific Coast League. Howarth was then hired as the Assistant General Manager and performed double duty as play-by-play man for the Utah Pros of the short-lived Western Basketball Association. Howarth was then hired as Group Sales Director by the NBA's Utah Jazz before joining KWMS radio in Salt Lake as the station's sports talk show host.[1]

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays fans wearing jerseys honouring Jerry Howarth and Tom Cheek in 2013

The Tom and Jerry era

In 1981, Howarth split his time between his radio duties in Salt Lake and his new career in Toronto. He worked part of the 1981 Blue Jays season as a commentator along with Early Wynn for CJCL, part of the Hewpax Sports Network that owned the Jays’ radio rights at the time.[2] Starting in the 1982 season, he replaced Wynn and joined Tom Cheek as his full-time play-by-play partner.[2] For the next 23 years, "Tom and Jerry" would be the radio voices of the Blue Jays.[3] Their partnership covered the rise of the Blue Jays through the 1980s, culminating with back to back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993.[4]

On June 3, 2004, Cheek missed calling a Blue Jays game for the first time in 27 years, because his father died.[4] He returned to the booth a week later only to miss more games when he was hospitalized and had a brain tumour removed.[5] He was diagnosed with brain cancer, but continued to broadcast with Howarth during home games, taking a few innings off to rest during these games.[6] Cheek's health continued to deteriorate, eventually forcing him to discontinue his broadcasting career after the end of the 2004 Toronto Blue Jays season. Cheek died on 9 October 2005.[3]

Play-by-play broadcaster

As it became clear, in early 2005, that Cheek would not be coming back, Howarth became the play-by-play broadcaster for Blue Jays games at this time and Warren Sawkiw filled in as analyst.[7] Sawkiw continued to work alongside Howarth through the end of the 2006 Blue Jays season. In 2007, Sawkiw was replaced in the booth by former Blue Jay catcher Alan Ashby.[8] Howarth continued to be the lead voice of the Toronto Blue Jays with Ashby serving as game analyst, until the end of the 2012 season.[9] Howarth next worked alongside former Jays pitcher and World Series champion Jack Morris during the 2013 season.[10] After one season, Morris was replaced by Joe Siddall who worked with Horwarth from 2014 through to 2017.[11][12] During this time, Mike Wilner, host of the Blue Jays Talk radio show, also provided play-by-play for some innings. Duane Ward supplied colour commentary for some games during the 2014 and 2015 season and Kevin Barker supplied colour for some games during the 2016 season.

Nickname controversy and retirement

In October 2016, prior to the American League Championship Series between Toronto and Cleveland, Howarth revealed — in an interview on CJCL radio — that in 1992, he had quietly taken a vow to not use team nicknames or expressions on-air that he considered to be offensive to aboriginal Canadians or Native Americans, such as the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians. He began the practice after receiving a letter from a listener who was a member of a First Nation group, whose writer explained that the names were offensive. Howarth felt the letter was written "in such a loving, kind way" and that it had "touched [his] heart", which led him to respect their wishes.[13] Renu Mandhane, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, supported Howarth's position, and called upon other media outlets to stop using the name in the wake of Cleveland's playoff series.[14]

On November 16, 2016, it was announced that Howarth had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and that he would undergo surgery in the following week to remove a small tumor from his prostate.[15] For health reasons, Howarth decided to retire from broadcasting in February 2018.[16]

Personal

Howarth, who became a Canadian citizen in 1994,[17] lives in Toronto with his wife Mary. They have two sons, Joe lives in Toronto, and Ben lives in Chicago.[18]

Howarth coached high school basketball for 20 years at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute.[19] He is also known for his active support and fund raising efforts on behalf of the Special Olympics.

Awards

Works

  • Howarth, Jerry (2019). Hello, Friends! Stories From My Life And Blue Jays Baseball. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-498-3.

References

  1. ^ MLB Staff (2017). "Toronto Blue Jays Broadcasters". Toronto Blue Jays on MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b CP Staff (November 24, 1981). "Cheek to Continue Announcing Blue Jays". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont: Gannett. The Canadian Press. p. 8B. ISSN 0894-8844. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Perkins, Dave (October 10, 2005). "'Museum-quality human being' gone". Toronto Star. p. A4. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  4. ^ a b Davidi, Shi (October 11, 2005). "Tom Cheek: The voice of Toronto baseball". The Gazette. Montreal: Postmedia Network. The Canadian Press. p. B7. ISSN 0384-1294. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  5. ^ Zelkovitch, Chris (June 18, 2004). "Life sends Cheek a curve". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: TorStar. p. SP9. ISSN 1189-9417. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  6. ^ Perkins, Dave (July 30, 2004). "Cheek belongs among best". Toronto Star. p. B2. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  7. ^ Perkins, Dave (April 30, 2005). "Opportunity knocks for Jays to hire Hodge". Toronto Star. p. E3. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  8. ^ Longley, Rob (January 25, 2007). "Sawkiw strikes out". Toronto Sun. Postmedia Network. ISSN 0837-3175. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Lott, John (January 5, 2013). "After six years as radio analyst". National Post. Toronto: Postmedia Network. p. FP17. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  10. ^ Lott, John (February 6, 2013). "Jays ready to unleash super subs". Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan: Postmedia Network. p. D6. ISSN 0839-2870. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  11. ^ Duff, Bob (March 3, 2014). "Grieving dad lands radio job with Blue Jays". Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario: Postmedia Network. pp. A1, A4. ISSN 0839-2277. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  12. ^ Buffery, Steve (March 3, 2018). "Siddall new TV analyst on Jays broadcasts". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia: Postmedia Network. p. 58. ISSN 0839-3311. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  13. ^ Edwards, Peter (October 11, 2016). "Jerry Howarth refuses to say Cleveland team name". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  14. ^ Csanady, Ashley (October 11, 2016). "Don't use Cleveland's team name when covering next Blue Jays series, human rights commissioner urges". National Post. Toronto: Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  15. ^ CP Staff (November 16, 2016). "Blue Jays announcer Jerry Howarth battling prostate cancer". Sportsnet. Toronto: Rogers Communications. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  16. ^ CP Staff (February 13, 2018). "Howarth retires after 36 years of calling Jays". The Sports Network. Toronto: Bell Media/ESPN. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  17. ^ Elliott, Bob (August 5, 2007). "Canadian homers: Baseball's making a comeback in Canada, thanks in no small way to these 30 top contributors". SLAM! Sports. Canoe Network. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012.
  18. ^ Zwolinski, Mark (September 4, 2021). "'Hello, friends!' Jerry Howarth on Blue Jays memories, the state of baseball broadcasting and retirement joy". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  19. ^ Iaboni, John (March 4, 2010). "'BoniBlog – Defining Jerry Howarth". Sports Media Canada. Toronto. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  20. ^ Admin Baseball (August 13, 2013). "Jack Graney Presentation to Jerry Howarth". St. Mary's, Ontario: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
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