June 9, 2019

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

“All I do is watch baseball games,” Jerry Howarth writes.

Hardly.

What the radio voice of the Toronto Blue Jays did game after game for 36 seasons was paint with words, making the action on the field come alive over the airwaves and sharing his passion for the game through descriptions that left listeners spellbound.

Fans who’ve missed hearing Howarth’s familiar voice calling Jays games can take heart, for reading his recently published memoir is almost like hearing the congenial broadcaster tell baseball stories on the air once again.

Hello, Friends! offers readers an inside look at the cast of memorable characters who turned the Jays into perennial contenders in the 1980s and World Series champions in 1992-93, as well as the lean decades that followed before the magical 2015-16 playoff runs.

Each chapter is chock full of trivia and anecdotes describing key plays and iconic moments, as well as fascinating insights from the man who watched more Blue Jays baseball than anyone – 6,000 games, give or take – and never lost his curiosity and enthusiasm for the game and the people in it.

Howarth writes in the same conversational tone with which he welcomed millions of listeners around the world to another edition of Blue Jays baseball. His lyrical style behind the microphone put him in league with fellow word painters Vin Scully and Ernie Harwell, as did his habit of including little details that helped listeners picture the scene. So instead of a nondescript foul ball to the right side, Howarth might describe a lazy fly artfully plucked from the air three rows back by a glove-wielding fan wearing a bright red cap and holding a half-eaten hot dog.

That approach was inspired by Ginny Redfield, a blind stadium organist who would sit near Howarth and listen to him call triple-A games.

“Those calls for Ginny became my calls for everyone,” Howarth writes.

In the foreword to Hello, Friends!, Blue Jays president emeritus Paul Beeston praised Howarth’s wide-ranging friendships with people throughout baseball, including the fans. He brought those relationships into the booth, looking beyond the foul lines to share stories of the umpires, players and coaches’ families, clubhouse attendants, and the myriad other people who populate the sport. His tireless research – organized in notebooks crammed full of stories and factoids gathered at spring training and around the batting cage – cemented his reputation as one of the hardest working broadcasters in the game.

When doing interviews, Howarth listened intently and wasn’t afraid to go off script, turning what could have been formulaic, cliche-filled exchanges into fascinating conversations that flowed naturally.

“It was up to me to find and appreciate the real person in the uniform,” he writes.

The stories in Hello, Friends! range from funny – such as radio analyst Gary “Sarge” Matthews falling asleep in the broadcast booth in the middle of an inning – to touching, as when Howarth describes how he felt watching fan favourite John McDonald’s Father’s Day home run in his first at-bat after the death of his father.

The anecdotes Howarth shares reveal his affection for the players and their accomplishments. He especially appreciated athletes who honoured their physical gifts by working hard to hone them.

Family and parenthood emerge as important themes in Howarth’s life. He describes the joy of having his sons, Ben and Joe, ride around the Blue Jays clubhouse on his shoulders after the 1992 World Series win, capping off what Howarth calls his proudest day in baseball. He is full of admiration for the sacrifices of parents of young ballplayers, as well as the key role his devoted “baseball wife,” Mary, played in his success.

This engaging memoir also touches on difficult moments in Howarth’s formative years and how his strong faith influenced every broadcast.

After five years calling minor league games, Howarth pinch hit for Blue Jays broadcaster Early Wynn on July 4, 1980, making his major league debut at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. He found his footing after that nervous first game, setting the stage for what would be a long and illustrious career spent as Tom Cheek’s partner and then as the play by play man, mentoring the former players who served as on-air analysts.

Over those decades, the Howarths became Canadian citizens and raised a family in central Etobicoke, where Jerry and Mary now enjoy life as grandparents and busy retirees.

Hello, Friends! is a worthy addition to any baseball fan’s bookshelf. As Howarth invited his listeners to do night after night, the reader can settle in and enjoy stories of Blue Jays baseball as told by the voice of summer, and come away knowing their old friend Jerry a little better.