For 36 seasons he was the voice of the Blue Jays, along with his broadcast partner Tom Cheek and then several others until he elected to retire to lighten his load and focus more on his health.

Jerry Howarth came to Toronto via Salt Lake City and Tacoma WA, a long way from California. Yet, Toronto for Jerry is home and we caught up with him today prior to his regular bridge game. Jerry sounds identical today to the old tapes you may find of him doing college football from the 1970's . More importantly, you can tell from spending just a few minutes with Jerry that he remains true to himself without wavering one bit.

Jerry is personable, friendly and a pleasure to speak with. He remembers every detail as if it was yesterday always applying the lens of good family person first and then baseball second.

Jerry shares his stories, thoughts and feelings about Toronto, playing in Canada vs. the United States, how he almost derailed a trade and his thoughts on how Alex Anthopolous exit was booted like a random infield grounder through Manny Lee's legs.

No matter your age, you will remember fondly the voice that started every game with "Hello friends" and likely had a "There, she, goes" in it as a Blue Jay player went deep.

With dire news around us, including today's grandstanding, chest thumping, bargaining by MLB Jerry will hopefully bring you back to a better time when games where, you know being played.

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