It was that booming voice that grabbed me right away.
I was a fan, instantly. I was hooked. So were a lot of you.
It was 1977 and I was 12. Long before there were BlackBerrys and iPods, there was a transistor radio and Tom Cheek calling those great Toronto Blue Jays for all of us dreaming of someday seeing our team win the World Series.
We knew it would be a long journey. But Tom Cheek took us there. Dreams do come true. And they did win. Twice.
And now we have another dream. Although posthumously, we'd love to get bestowed on him the prestigious and difficult to win Ford C. Frick Award.
It would put him in the same category with other recipients like Ernie Harwell, Harry Caray, Joe Garagiola, Vin Scully, Bob Uecker, Curt Gowdy and Jack Buck. Tom Cheek was Canada's version of all of those. And has the same credentials.
Perhaps it's a bit nostalgic for those of us who grew up listening to the late great Tom Cheek, or maybe it's just because we don't want his incredible voice forgotten, but there is a movement to try to get this guy this award which would put him in his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A lot of people in this town are sure hoping this is the time the gentle giant gets elected into the shrine in Cooperstown, N.Y.
"Tom is not only an icon with Blue Jays fans but also an icon within baseball," said team president Paul Godfrey. "He sure knew the game and was so well respected."
Jays vice-president Howard Starkman called Tom a "tremendous broadcaster and a good person" who "helped build Blue Jays baseball, providing a voice and a face to the franchise every fan could identify with."
They are both right. As a kid there was nothing better for me than being out on a boat with a fishing road on a summer Saturday and listening to Tom call a game. I always hated mowing the lawn but if I did, I put on my Walkman and listened to Tom Cheek. It made the chore fun.
From Doug Ault to Dave Stieb to Jessie Barfield to Joe Carter to Carlos Delgado there he was -- for 27 years never missing a game.
And then came the cancer and soon after the legend was gone. He died in October 2005. Nobody ever thought this was possible. He was the Cal Ripken of broadcasting. He did 4,306 straight games.
But nothing lasts forever. And nobody. All good times end.
But those great calls certainly live on. "Touch em', Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life."
That was the second World Series victory he sent out over the airwaves. A lot of people will never forget the first one when he yelled, "The Blue Jays are World Series Champions."
It was surreal. They had done it. The dream had come true.
And to think it all started from expansion. Same goes for Tom. He had a dream of making the big leagues as an announcer and after chipping in with the Montreal Expos broadcast, he got the nod to be the voice of the Blue Jays.
It's a long way to the top. But he got there.
"It's funny how he's remembered for his touch them all quote because Tom touched so many baseball fans with his affable nature," said Godfrey, who would love nothing more than to see him honoured.
But getting this award will not be easy.
The competition is fierce and as Blue Jays spokesman Will Hill correctly pointed out last night, all the candidates are worthy. Look at this list: Dizzy Dean, Ken Harrelson, Bill King, Tony Kubek, France Laux, Denny Matthews, Graham McNamee, Dave Niehaus and Joe Nuxhall. Just one will be selected when a committee reveals it's decision Feb. 22, 2007.
Tom's been turned down twice. Hopefully it's his turn. It would mean a lot to his family -- his wife Shirley and children Tom Jr., Lisa and Jeff -- and a heck of a lot of Blue Jays fans from coast to coast who never forgot the man who touched them all.
