Jerry Howarth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jerry Howarth (born March 12, 1946) is the lead radio play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays. He has been a radio broadcaster for the Major League Baseball team since 1981. After working for part of the 1981 season as a commentator, he joined Tom Cheek full-time as the secondary play-by-play man in 1982.

Born in York, Pennsylvania, Howarth grew up in San Francisco as an avid sports fan. After graduating from the University of Santa Clara in 1968 and serving two years in the U.S. Army, Howarth began a career as a sportscaster, over the course of which he has broadcast baseball, American football and basketball. Howarth, who became a Canadian citizen in 1994,[1] lives in Etobicoke, Ontario with his wife and has two sons. He also coaches basketball at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute.

Howarth became the sole play-by-play broadcaster on Blue Jays games in 2005 during Cheek's battle with brain cancer, with Warren Sawkiw serving as analyst. This arrangement continued in the 2006 season after Cheek passed away. Howarth resumed sharing the play-by-play duties when Alan Ashby replaced Sawkiw in the broadcast booth in 2007, although Howarth continues to be the lead voice of the team.

[edit] Catch Phrases

  • "It's time to play ball, here at (stadium name)!" (said as the first pitch of the game is delivered)
  • "The Blue Jays are in flight ..." (after the Blue Jays score their first run of the game)
  • "Swiiing and a miss, he struck him out!" (when a Blue Jays pitcher strikes out a hitter swinging)
  • "Call it two, a double play!"
  • "There she goes!" (Blue Jays' home run call, sometimes preceded with "Yessir ... " or "Let's admire that one ..." )
  • "He's one for ("blank") today, but oh what a one!" ("Said when recapping a hitter's box score if he's already hit a home run")
  • "Lined/ground ball to the left side/up the middle/to the right side ... throoouuugh for a base hit!"
  • "There goes another one!" (said either after a hitter hits his second or more home run of the game or after a back-to-back home run)
  • "(Blue Jay player) scoooooores / (Blue Jay player) around third, he scoooooores!"
  • "Hooking, hooking ... foul / fair down the left/right field line!"
  • "Hello, friends! Jerry Howarth here, along with Alan Ashby and Mike Wilner..."
  • "We'll pause for a little 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' ... " (Said as a lead in to a commercial break after the top of the seventh inning is completed)
  • "Back here at (stadium name) ... ho, what a night/afternoon!" (Said after the first commercial break of a completed game when the Blue Jays win)
  • "The throw ... not in tiiime / he got him! (Said after an infielder attempts a force out to another infielder covering a base)
  • "The tag and the slide ... he's in theeere / and OUT at second / third base!" (Said after an infielder attempts to tag out the baserunner on either an extra base hit attempt or a stolen base attempt)

[edit] Sources

[edit] References

  1. ^ Elliott, Bob. Canadian homers SLAM! Sports, 5 August 2007.