October 22, 2019

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Former Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Beeston (Welland, Ont.) was one of seven new Ontario Sports Hall of Fame inductees honoured in a ceremony last night at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto.

Legendary radio broadcaster Jerry Howarth was also honoured with the Ontario sports hall’s Brian Williams Media Award for his excellent work behind the mike for the Toronto Blue Jays for 36 seasons.

Six other Ontario athletes were also inducted into the Ontario sports shrine last night: Angela James (hockey), Denis Potvin (hockey), Dwayne De Rosario (soccer), Jack Donohue (basketball), Joe Primeau (hockey) and Paul Henderson (sailing).

After graduating from Welland High & Vocational School, Beeston obtained a bachelor of arts degree, majoring in economics and political science, from the University of Western Ontario in 1968. He was promptly hired by Coopers & Lybrand in London and received his chartered accountant designation in 1971.

He remained employed with the London firm until he was hired by the Blue Jays as their first employee on May 10, 1976. Initially the vice-president of administration, Beeston was promoted to vice-president of business operations with the club the following year. His rise through the Jays’ ranks continued when he was named executive vice-president of business in 1984 and president and chief operating officer (CEO) in 1989. On December 13, 1991, he was appointed the chief executive officer of the franchise, overseeing the Jays’ two World Series-winning teams.

In 1997, Beeston became the president and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball and would be employed in that post until 2002. Six years later, Beeston’s name was added to the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre and he returned to the Jays as interim CEO in October 2008. He currently serves as as a President Emeritus with the club.

Howarth was born in York, Pennsylvania and grew up in San Francisco. After graduating with a degree in Economics from the University of Santa Clara, he served as an officer in the U.S. army, V Corps Headquarters, in Frankfurt, Germany from 1968 to 1970.

When he returned to the U.S., he attended Hastings Law School at the University of California in downtown San Francisco, where he met his wife, Mary. Howarth began broadcasting with the triple-A Tacoma Twins in 1974, before assuming radio play-by-play duties for the triple-A Salt Lake City Gulls in 1976.

It was while with the Gulls that he first applied for a radio job with the Blue Jays in 1977. The Jays opted to hire Tom Cheek and Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn, but they told Howarth to stay in touch.

Howarth’s big break came when Gulls’ manager Jimy Williams was hired by the Blue Jays in 1980 and put in a good word for Howarth with the franchise brass. With that endorsement, Howarth was brought in to work three radio broadcasts for the club in 1980 and 20 more the following campaign, before being hired full-time in 1982.

For 23 seasons, Howarth teamed with Tom Cheek on Blue Jays radio broadcasts. During that period, he watched the team evolve into an American League East powerhouse. Howarth was in the booth for the Blue Jays’ five division titles between 1985 and 1993, as well as the team’s two World Series triumphs in 1992 and 1993. Twenty-two years later, he called games for the Blue Jays’ 2015 division-winning squad.

For more than three decades, Howarth masterfully painted a picture of what transpired on the field for Blue Jays’ radio listeners. His broadcasts were sprinkled with trademark catch phrases like “The Blue Jays are in flight!” – a phrase he used when the Jays scored their first run in a game – and “And there she goes!” – his popular home run call.

Howarth became a Canadian citizen in 1994.