Thomas F Cheek was an American sports commentator who is best remembered as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball, from the team's establishment in 1977 until his retirement in 2004.
15 Facts About Tom Cheek
2.
Tom Cheek was inducted to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence in 2004.
3.
Tom Cheek's father, named Tom Cheek, was a well known United States Naval Aviator in World War II and a recipient of the Navy Cross at the Battle of Midway.
4.
From 1957 to 1960, Tom Cheek served in the United States Air Force, where he spent a year in Morocco as a teletype operator with the Strategic Air Command as an airman third class.
5.
Tom Cheek began his radio broadcasting career in Plattsburgh, New York, as a disc jockey on WEAV in 1962.
6.
Tom Cheek then moved to Burlington, Vermont, where he worked for WDOT and was quickly promoted to corporate sales manager and sports director.
7.
Tom Cheek later moved from music to sports broadcasting when he moved to WJOY, where his on-air sports work included baseball, basketball, football and hockey for the University of Vermont.
8.
When it was decided the Expos would use a guest announcer format, Tom Cheek got his first broadcast experience in Major League Baseball, filling in there occasionally from 1974 to 1976.
9.
Tom Cheek was a member of the broadcast team for ABC Sports at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
10.
Tom Cheek was forced to take time off to undergo surgery on June 12,2004, to remove a brain tumor.
11.
Tom Cheek died at age 66 in Oldsmar, Florida, and was interred in the Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida.
12.
Tom Cheek married his wife, Shirley, of Hemmingford, Quebec, in 1959.
13.
Tom Cheek was inducted into the Blue Jays Level of Excellence in 2004 with the number "4306" next to his name, signifying his broadcasting streak.
14.
For nine straight years, Cheek was among the ten finalists for the Ford C Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, an award presented each year, during the Hall's induction weekend, to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball".
15.
Tom Cheek received the 2013 award on December 5,2012.