6:15 PM Eastern
Once again, the late, great Tom Cheek has been passed over by the committee that presents the annual Ford C. Frick Award for Broadcast Excellence at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. And this time, I’m even more upset than usual.
I wrote in this space back in December that I didn’t think Tom would get in this year, but as I said then, it was because Joe Nuxhall was the sentimental favourite. Nuxhall had just passed away, barely a year after retiring from the Reds’ radio booth, and was a beloved figure across the baseball world. He also blew away the competition in the fan balloting for the Frick award, getting 82,304 votes. The next closest was the late Bill King, former A’s announcer, who got 7,659. I thought Nuxhall would win, and even though I think that Tom deserves the award just as much, I would have understood had it been Nuxhall.
But this year’s Frick recipient, garnering entry into the broadcasters’ wing of the Hall, is Dave Niehaus, the voice of the Seattle Mariners. Niehaus has been the M’s radio announcer since their inception in 1977, missing only 82 games since then. He has also broadcast Dodgers and Yankees games for the Armed Forces Radio Network, and did the Angels from 1969-76.
Let me be clear on this – Dave Niehaus is a tremendous broadcaster, and Dave Niehaus deserves his place in the Hall of Fame. But so does Tom Cheek, and what the hell is the hold-up?
Let me quote from the news release announcing Niehaus’ inception. Here is what Dale Petrosky, the President of the Hall of Fame had to say: “Dave Niehaus is the heartbeat of Mariners baseball. Since Day One, he has painted a picture of baseball and summer in Seattle better than anyone else ever has. By virtue of his talent, dedication, and professionalism, he has earned his rightful place among the elite broadcasters in baseball history in receiving the 2008 Ford C. Frick Award.”
Let’s ignore the fact that the reason that Niehaus has painted that picture better than anyone else ever has is that he’s the only one who has ever done it, that’s beside the point. What I want you to do is switch all the Niehaus and Seattle references to Tom Cheek and Toronto. Would that statement have not fit just as well?
The 19-member voting panel (made up of the 14 living Frick winners and five baseball historians/columnists – Bob Costas, Barry Horn, Stan Isaacs, Ted Patterson and Curt Smith) is told to base their vote on the following criteria: longevity, continuity with a club, honours (including national assignments such as All-Star games and World Series), and popularity with the fans. Tom Cheek had all those things in spades. His national assignments are ignored by the voters, because either they don’t realize that he
broadcast All-Star games and World Series across the country (of Canada) for decades, or they just don’t count it because it’s only Canada.
Look, I don’t want to come across as all sour grapey or anything here, and I certainly don’t want to be disrespectful to Niehaus, or Denny Matthews, Gene Elston and Jerry Coleman, all the men who have won the award in the years since Tom got sick, then passed away. But the fact of the matter is that Tom Cheek deserves his place among baseball’s elite broadcasters in Cooperstown. It’s shameful that the honour wasn’t bestowed upon him while he had the opportunity to enjoy it (and while we knew time was running out) and it’s disrespectful to his memory that he has to now wait in line to get in.
The longer we wait, the more memories fade, and the more the chance reduces that this much-deserved honour will be bestowed upon Tom and his family. I know that I will continue to do all I can every year to campaign for justice to be served to Tom and Shirley and the rest of the Cheek and Blue Jays families for as long as it takes.
Tom Cheek was the voice of summer in Toronto for almost 30 years, and across Canada for nearly that long. He still would be if he hadn’t been tragically taken from us by brain cancer. He was a fantastic broadcaster, well-known and well-loved by Jays fans, and had that phenomenal streak of 4,306 consecutive games broadcast, from Day One until his father passed away in June of 2004. That number doesn’t include playoff games, all-star games and spring training games, none of which Tom ever missed, either. It’s an embarrassment that his plaque doesn’t hang in the broadcasters’ wing.
Am I biased? Damn right I am. Like a lot of you, I grew up listening to Tom, but I also had the immeasurable honour and pleasure of working side-by-side with him for three seasons. I got a chance to be mentored by one of the all-time greats, and I’ll never forget the lessons he taught me, the encouragement he always had for me and just the everything that he was to me in that broadcast booth.
But the fact that I knew Tom personally, and that in person he was one of the greatest human beings I have ever had the pleasure to know, takes nothing away from the credentials of the man to be a baseball immortal.
Comments are welcome, as always. Look for an entry about the Jays’ batting order in the next couple of days, and on the weekend, one last mailbag before I head to Dunedin.
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Very well written Mike, I couldn’t agree more.
Anybody with Tom’s resume in New York, Boston, St. Louis, or Chicago would have been in the Hall-of-Fame years ago.
I think I may be taking this too hard, but I feel like Tom (who I consider the face of our franchise… or at least the voice), getting passed over like this belittles the Jays and their fans.
- CraigMike, what a great entry.
It’s such a disappointment to see Tom get denied year after year. Like you, I grew up listening to Tom every night (sneaking it if I had to), and although didn’t have the pleasure of working along side him, I will always consider him a major role model and influence on me as I begin a broadcasting career of my own.
Please keep up the great work!
- Kirby BarberMike:
I have been trying to figure out today where to play my anger. I am mad as hell at baseball today. I keep trying to tell myself that Tom will get into the Hall of Fame, but I worry that people are going to forget his accomplishments and what he meant to an entire nation of baseball fans.
Between him and Dave Van Horne, Canadians became EDUCATED and passionate baseball fans.
My story about Tom is as follows: I had the honour of meeting Tom and Jerry and spending three innings in the booth with them one Saturday afternoon in the late-90s. I was nervous knowing that two of my heros were in front of me.
What a thrill it was when Tom took off his headset to come and meet me at the end of the second inning. He knows my grandfather and I felt like I was talking to an old family friend.
He was very flattered, yet very humble when I said I have grown up listening to him (Jerry was equally as flattered) and he said that he was very happy that I had enjoyed his work over the years. We then talked about the business (at the time I was breaking into the radio business stateside myself) and he said just work hard and I’ll find happiness in whatever I did.
He’s right.
But on this day, where I had so hoped that we could be celebrating a Canadian icon, I cannot find that happiness. I am sad because one of the voices of my childhood has not been recognized by baseball for his dedication and hard work.
I, along with millions of Canadians, am a baseball fan today because of the work of Tom and Early and then Tom and Jerry… And of course let’s not forget either Scott Ferguson or yourself with the Major League Report and Baseball Today!
Even now, living in Québec, I tune into every Jays game on the local radio station because that’s how I fell in love with the sport.
Listening to Tom Cheek was a pleasure and sometimes, I am saddened to know that I have to live with the memories of his voice and will long longer be treated by hearing him say those seven magical words… Sadden and outraged at the baseball establishment as they continue to shun him and his accomplishments.
Outraged that someone who invited me into his office (the booth), someone who didn’t do his job for recognition or glory…. Someone who did his job because he enjoyed speaking with each and every one of us every night has not recieved his due.
That’s why it hurts so much that he’s not yet in the Hall of Fame where he belongs….
And you know what, if he isn’t recognized by those in Cooperstown, his adopted nation adores him and wont forget!
Touch em all Tom… He touched each and everyone one of us with his words!
Touched us all by uttering those seven simple, yet magical words, to let you know that our friend was there… Our voice of the summer… The voice of our childhood was there to spend sometime with us… You know, when he woud proudly tell us that … “Blue Jays baseball is on the air…”
- John BowerHi Mike,
Like you, I am upset – but upset doesn’t cover it. I’m fuming. I started listening to Blue Jay broadcasts in 1981 at the age of 12, knowing almost nothing of baseball, but curious to find out what it was all about. Because of Tom Cheek, and only because of Tom Cheek, I became an ardent baseball fan (not just a Jays’ fan). He painted the game on the radio like no one could. I listened to many, many games on the radio courtesy of Tom long before I ever saw a game on TV or in person, and because of that, my first visit to the ball park was the richer for it. I used to turn the sound down on the TV and let Tom’s voice be the colour for the game. For me, not only was he Blue Jays baseball, he was baseball. I have baseball in my blood now because of Tom, and because of Tom I will always love the game. For me, he was the Foster Hewitt of baseball.
Taking nothing away from some of the greats in broadcasting, I do have to say I was very surprised to find out, as I began to hear broadcasters from other teams do their thing, that very few, if any, could hold a candle to Tom’s voice, his passion for the game, or the way he could draw you into another world for a few hours every summer day.
Tom defined baseball for me and I’m sure for a generation of baseball fans in this country. It’s a shame because I’m sure had he plied his craft for the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Dodgers, he would have been in prior to his passing.
If I can do anything to help in your efforts, vis-a-vis helping to organize fan support or letter writing etc. to help you to get Tom in, please let me know.
Shaun Elson.
- Shaun ElsonI totally agree. As you said, Tom was the voice of summer in Toronto starting when I was eight years old and extending well into my 30′s. If anyone deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, it’s Tom. Great post.
- Graemebang on Mike. I am also very disappointed with yet another passing over of Tom’s accomplishments. I voted daily when we had our chance to speak up and get Tom on the ballot. I hope more Jays fans will join next year so perhpas the voting panel will take notice.
I don’t know how many modern World Series have ended on a homerun (maybe 2?) but Tom’s “Touch ‘em all Joe!” has to be one of the classic baseball calls. You can bet if it was for any American-based team it would be known by many millions of fans and Tom’s plaque would have been secured years ago. Unfortunately too many of the panel members misremember 1993.
- Ian CHi Mike,
Here here!! I remember as little kid laying in bed straining to hear to Tom and Jerry on my parents radio out on the deck. Like you said, a whole generation of Canadian ball fans grew up with him and the BlueJays.
I still often listen to the games on radio by choice, reminds me of my childhood I guess, and I find myself wishing Tom was still there calling the game.
The fact that he has been passed over again is very disheartening to his memory, his family, the city, the BlueJays, his colleagues and the entire country.
- Nick DMy thoughts EXACTLY Mike!
“or they just don’t count it because it’s only Canada.”
I think this one line from your entry may say it all!
I lose respect for the Ford C. Frick award and those involved with it, as with each passing year they fail to recognize the incredible contribution to broadcasting and to baseball that quite simply, in my opinion, was Tom Cheek.
I took the liberty of switching the names etc in that news release and changed it to suit what I feel about Tom.
“Tom Cheek was the heartbeat of Blue Jays baseball. Since Day One, he has painted a picture of baseball and summer in CANADA better than anyone else ever could. By virtue of his talent, dedication, and professionalism, he has earned his rightful place among the elite broadcasters in baseball history and should have already received the Ford C. Frick Award.”
Tom was like a member of our family, and still is. We all miss him very much. Sadly, because Tom has been passed over repeatedly now, the announcements that he is on the ballot again just serve as a painful reminder of what we have all lost. It’s long past due for Tom to be honored and take his place in the hall. I think the Cheek family, the fans, and all those who loved Tom deserve that, at the very least!
- KevinI’ve been an avid listener to Blue Jays radio broadcasts since April 1977. I share the views expressed here about Tom Cheek. He was a titan among baseball voices.
In my work over the past 25 years, I’ve had occasion to travel around the US by car. During the season, I am frequently tuning into broadcasts of Blue Jays games wherever they might be, and I have heard many of the radio broadcasters for other teams. For years now, that experience has given me a real appreciation of how good Tom (and Jerry) truly were. They were always extremely well prepared, new the ins and outs of the other teams’ players, were never guilty of homerism, never drifted away from the game to yak about something irrelevant, were always willing to acknowledge a good or great play by the Jays’ opponents or a gaffe by the Jays. It was always shocking to me how frequently those traits were lacking (sometimes utterly lacking) in the broadcasters for other teams. I always considered myself very lucky to be a Jays fan, and to have the advantage of such outstanding broadcasters.
Tom often used to say that for him it was a privilege to be able to “paint the word pictures” for the Jays fans listening in. And that’s what he did, and in doing so, he was an artist. He was certainly as good as Harwell, and in my opinion, better. It was never a disadvantage to listen to his broadcasts; Tom’s descriptions were invariably vastly more informed and informative than TV, and one felt one got a superb account of the game despite the lack of video. Every play, whether Carter’s homer or a routine 6-3 ground out, was presented with enthusiasm, linguistic flair and real integrity during every game, every season, throughout a long and laudable career.
I miss Tom. That he wasn’t rewarded with the Frick while he was dying was a sad oversight. That he hasn’t received the reward yet is a disgrace.
- Mick in IthacaMike,
I have just read your column and the responses to date regarding Tom being once again overlooked for the Frick award. I congratulate Dave Niehaus for receiving the award and I do so much want everyone to know how much I appreciate your comments. I hope everyone will once again campaign for Tom next year and maybe, just maybe he will be recognized for his contribution to the world of baseball and more importantly to the entire country of Canada. I’m still in awe 2 and a half years later with the enormous response I received from fans all over Canada and many from the United States, even as far away as England, Japan and many other countries thanks to the internet. I have saved each and every one of the emails and letters received and have even transcribed them onto my computer along with favorite stories from family and friends that one day I hope to have published for our grandchildren and family.
I will always be grateful to so many wonderful fans and their response to Tom after his streak ended at 4,306 consecutive games due to his dad’s death, little did we know that 10 days later he would be striken with a brain tumour which would eventually take his life.
Tom was humbled by being placed on the final ballot 4 years ago and he said “there are so many others that are deserving of this honor”…..
Thank you from the entire Cheek family for everyone’s effort to campaign and vote each year for Tom to receive this award.
Sincerely,
- Shirley CheekShirley Cheek
Mike, I too am angry and saddened, but maybe what the Blue Jay fans need are names and addresses or email addy’s so we can campaign personally to these people that make the decisions.
Because most americans just think we are an annex anyway, they never consider the facts unless they are stuck right in front of them. Help us campaign!!!
- sandyI thought of saying something and then read the comment of Shirley Cheek. I thought you had said most of what needed to be said and then I realized that she said the rest. I will instead just ask a question – have the Blue Jays said anything? if so, what? if not, why not?
- Stephen RaymondMike, I am both saddened and revolted by this decision. I know nothing of the recipient, and suspect he is deserving, but from the press release I cannot see how he could even be considered to be equally as deserving as Tom Cheek, nevermind moreso. I mean no disrespect to Niehaus but the only way I can rationalize this to consider it to be another putrid example of how MLB, and everybody associated with it, hate to recognize that there is anything outside of their own borders.
Our only means to contest this is to try even harder next time and force them to hear, recognize and share our respect for and admiration of Tom Cheek
- Mike K.I couldnt read this without a wave of both Frustration and sadness comming over me.
Driving back from the cottage in long point every sunday to Hamilton with my grandfather the only thing more sunnamus with hearing Toms voice over the radio was “cows on my side, I win”
and that was over the course of about 20years
Both are missed grately and neither took a day off! Ever.
Shame on the Hall
- Kyle MoroLong live Tom Cheek! He will always be remembered in my mind. He’s in my hall of fame!
- MattI agree with everyone who has posted comments. As a long-time Blue Jays fan (I took a few seasons off after the 1994 strike), the name of Toronto Blue Jays was synonomous with the name Tom Cheek. The man had class and gave those of us who were new to baseball in Toronto (indeed Canada) in 1977, a wonderful portrait of each game. He seemed to give his all in every one of those 4,306 games and I, like many others, lived and died with the Jays in those early years and rejoiced in 1992 – 93 when we won it all. Rest in Peace, Tom…you may be gone, but you’ll never be forgotten.
- Joe InternicolaCouldn’t agree with you more Mike. I still get emotional listening to Tom’s homerun call in ’93. Hopefully all your hard work will pay off next year.
MW: My hard work is nothing, it’s Tom’s that counts.
- Ray A.