Jerry Howarth, the radio voice of the Toronto Blue Jays for the past 30 years, is the winner of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2012 Jack Graney Award.
The award is presented annually to “a member of the media who has made significant contributions to baseball in Canada through their life’s work.”
The 66-year-old Howarth will be presented with the award during a pre-game ceremony at Rogers Centre early in 2013.
“I am very honoured to be named the Jack Graney Award winner for 2012 joining a long list of notables including the gentleman who brought me to Toronto, Len Bramson, and the other gentleman I worked with in the radio booth for years in Tom Cheek,” Howarth said in a release. “That makes this award particularly special for me.”
Last week the late Cheek was named the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, which will place him in the broadcaster’s wing at the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Howarth was hired by the Blue Jays full-time in 1982 after working three radio broadcasts for the team in 1980 and 20 more in 1981. He has called more than 5,000 games for the Blue Jays – the most of any broadcaster in franchise history.
“Jerry Howarth is the voice of summer for thousands of Canadians,” said Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s director of operations in a release. “In his 32 seasons on Blue Jays’ airwaves, he has set the standard for play-by-play commentators in our country. And not only is Jerry Howarth a great broadcaster, he’s an outstanding citizen who does a lot for his community. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honour.”
Howarth became a Canadian citizen in 1994 and resides in Toronto with his wife Mary.
Big #Bluejays winter continues – Jerry Howarth wins Jack Graney Award! Canadian Baseball HOF version of the Frick. Congrats, Jerry!!! #Jays
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) December 13, 2012
