"Hooking... hooking... there she goes!"
Try to read that line without imagining the voice of Jerry Howarth, now in his 23rd year of broadcasting Blue Jays baseball. We're delighted to have him step into Da Box to answer your questions.
A native of York, PA, Jerry grew up in San Francisco, but is now a year-round resident of the GTA, where he coaches youth basketball in the winter. His radio career began with the AAA Tacoma Twins, then the Salt Lake City Gulls. He was also Group Sales Manager for the NBA's Utah Jazz and Sports Director at KWMS before making the move to Toronto.
Howarth is always upbeat, relentlessly positive.
"Every game tells its own story," he told Tom Gage of the Detroit News last year. "I don't get on a roller-coaster ride. I want the Blue Jays to do well, but the game itself is that night's blank canvas, and when it's over, I move on to the next one.
"For me, though, there is no doom and gloom. Fans don't want to hear that."
The legendary Ernie Harwell was one of Jerry's influences. Howarth, long time partner Tom Cheek and other peers paid tribute in a Detroit Free Press feature when Harwell retired.
"Ernie has been a mentor for me. He's a wonderful Christian man whom I've emulated. He's bigger than the game because he lets the game take place and then he just calls what happens. I'm so impressed with how fundamental he is in his life and his calling of a ballgame. I saw things like discipline and routine in Ernie, and I said, 'I want to do that for myself.'"
Jerry has been very kind to Batter's Box, and knows what kind of avid fans read the site. He won't be answering your questions directly in this thread, but we'll sit down next weekend so he can respond to as many as time permits, then I'll post the interview early the following week.
Go ahead, Bauxites -- ask Jerry!
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040412012404999