Jerry Howarth | |
---|---|
Born |
York, Pennsylvania |
March 12, 1946
Occupation | Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play announcer |
Years active | 1981–present |
Jerry Howarth (born March 12, 1946) is an American Canadian recognized as the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays, doing the play-by-play for the team's radio broadcasts, a position he has held for the Major League Baseball (MLB) team since 1981.
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 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 baseball and football action 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 Salt Lake City Prospectors of the short-lived Western Basketball Association. Howarth was then hired by the NBA's Utah Jazz before joining KWMS radio in Salt Lake as Sports Director and sports talk show host.
In 1981, Howarth split his time between his radio duties in Salt Lake and his new career in Toronto where he worked part of the 1981 Blue Jays season as a commentator. In 1982, he joined Tom Cheek as full-time play-by-play partner. For the next 23 years, "Tom and Jerry" would be the radio voices of the Blue Jays. Their partnership covered the rise of the Blue Jays through the 1980s, culminating with back to back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993.