Tom Cheek

Thomas F. Cheek (June 13, 1939 – October 9, 2005) was an American sports commentator who is best remembered today as the original "Voice of the Toronto Blue Jays", Cheek announced Major League Baseball (MLB) games for the Toronto Blue Jays on radio, as the play-by-play announcer, from the team's establishment in 1977 until his retirement in 2004, in which he had a 27-year streak of 4,306 consecutive games plus 41 post-season games called, which lasted from the first ever Blue Jays game on April 7, 1977 to June 3, 2004. Cheek was inducted to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence in 2004. Cheek's best-known call was perhaps his description of Joe Carter's dramatic title-clinching home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, when he said, "Touch 'em all, Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!" He is also author of the book Road to Glory, which chronicled the first 16 years of Blue Jays baseball. Cheek was selected as the recipient of the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award after being nominated as a finalist for the award every year since 2005.