Jerry is an option too. would it be a huge violation to vote for the both of them?

Jerry is an option too. would it be a huge violation to vote for the both of them?

That's what I'm doing. I'm also giving a token vote to Don Chevrier, largely because he's immediately below Tom's name and thus easy to vote for.

http://www.bellsbeer.com/
If Pat Hughes edges out Tom for the last (only?) spot by one vote, then I will feel guilty. But in my defense, anyone who works with Ron Santo deserves an award - and a better beer sponsor than Old Style (Bell's Oberon, I'm looking at you...)

Jerry is an option too. would it be a huge violation to vote for the both of them?

No, it wouldn't. Jerry does an excellent job too. But let's give Tom all of our support because he deserves it more than anybody.

I'm also giving a token vote to Don Chevrier, largely because he's immediately below Tom's name and thus easy to vote for.

If you really must vote for all three people at least give it some thought instead of throwing it away like that please.

Vote for whoever you like ... The Official Endorsement of Mike Wilner is provided for its informational value only. Da Box does not endorse individual candidates for awards -- we are Switzerland, Canada.

I voted for Tom and Jerry but also for The Old Lefthander, Joe Nuxhall, after briefly considering Herb Score and Tom Grieve as well.

First off, thanks a lot to Mick for giving this its own thread!

Just to clarify, though, I didn't ask you all to vote for Tom and only Tom as a condemnation or anyone else's work, including Jerry, Joe Nuxhall, Chevy, whoever.

The reason I asked you all to vote for Tom and only Tom is to guarantee that he gets on that final ballot. I didn't want the waters muddied up with the names of other broadcasters.

Only one person can win the Frick and be enshrined in Cooperstown each year, and I firmly believe that this should be Tom Cheek's year. Please, save your votes for all the other deserving broadcasters for next year and beyond. Tom Cheek should get in now.

Thanks for all your support.

http://www.lightanddark.net/images/FrankCatalanotto.JPG
While we're voting for Tom Cheek everyday, here's a pretty face to see as well. It's funny, do a Google image search for "Frank Catalanotto" and this guy comes up, COMN.

Voted for Tom and Jerry, and then all the TSN 20 commercials made me make up my mind to vote for Dave Van Horne as well. Heard him with the Marlins a couple years ago, still a great voice.

It would be great for Mr. Cheek to be elected in on this year.

While we're voting for Tom Cheek everyday, here's a pretty face to see as well. It's funny, do a Google image search for "Frank Catalanotto" and this guy comes up, COMN.

Thanks a lot Keith; you've managed to give me something that will no doubt haunt my dreams for 30 years :)

People, what's so hard to get about this? Do you really think Dave Van Horne and Jerry Howarth deserve as much as Tom Cheek to be in the Hall of Fame? I can't believe you do, and every vote for someone other than Tom just makes it harder for Tom to get in.

This is not a time for us to be spreading around our love.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0880015330/qid%3D947633404/sr%3D1-1/102-6925316-8102523
Phil Rizzuto's on the ballot? Not too many of these guys have had a book of poetry assembled from their broadcast musings...COMN

Inspirational verse from the Scooter:

Reversal of Opinion

And he hits one in the hole
They're gonna have to hurry.
THEY'LL NEVER GET HIM!
They got him.
How do you like that.
Holy cow.
I changed my mind before he got there.
So that doesn't count as an error

I also notice Dizzy Dean on the ballot - I remember Ol' Diz and Pee Wee Reese doing the Game of the Week when I was a tiny little fella. "He slud into second... you learn 'em English, and I'll learn 'em baseball."

But Diz and the Scooter are already in the HoF as players. So I'm voting for Tom.

Growing up listening to the Reds and Tigers on the radio, you had Ernie Harwell, the greatest baseball radio man EVER, on WJR, and the ol' lefthander, Joe Nuxhall, mentioned above, on WLW. I will alway remember the Nuxhall call that went something like this (I wish I could remember who was pitching and hitting) ... "There's a DRIVE to left ... that could be TROUBLE ... uh, Concepcion has it on the outfield grass ..."

People, what's so hard to get about this? Do you really think Dave Van Horne and Jerry Howarth deserve as much as Tom Cheek to be in the Hall of Fame? I can't believe you do, and every vote for someone other than Tom just makes it harder for Tom to get in.

No, it doesn't. If everyone votes for Tom Cheek and then chooses two others to fill out their ballot, Tom is still going to come out way ahead. People are going to have such a wide range of secondary choises that none of them will even come close to challenging Tom.

If people here were voting for broadcasters who had a legitimate chance of getting on the ballot, you'd have a point. But I have a hard time believing there's going to be some sort of orchestrated campaign by other fans to get Jerry Howarth or Don Chevrier on the ballot in December. As long as people are voting for throw-away choices (which is what we're seeing here), these extra votes are a non-issue.

People, what's so hard to get about this? Do you really think Dave Van Horne and Jerry Howarth deserve as much as Tom Cheek to be in the Hall of Fame?

It's not the Hall of Fame.

It's not the Hall of Fame.

"The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Each award recipient (not to be confused with an inductee) is presented with a calligraphy of the award during the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and is recognized in the "Scribes & Mikemen" exhibit in the Library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame."

Close enough.

Of course vote for Tom, but also don't forget to vote for FERGIE, FERGIE, FERGIE!

This isn't "putting him in the Hall of Fame" and if it was, I'd be appalled at the vote-stuffing stunt.

You've certainly put me in my place and I am deeply ashamed. Now, can we get back to the point of this, which is Tom Cheek?

Can you imagine if Hall of Fame members were elected through an internet vote?

I don't think there is anything wrong with this so-called 'ballot-stuffing stunt', if they didn't want this to happen, they should have set up the voting so that you can only vote once. Also, I'm sure there is promotion of this award for all deserving nominees.

Tom deserves this award and if he wins because this web site was responsible for even only a small part of his victory, everyone involved here should be proud.

BTW - I've been voting for Tom and only Tom.

Anyone else having trouble with the link, which worked fine yesterday? I don't see anything wrong with the HTML, but if someone with administrative rights wants to re-check and edit it, feel free.

Glad to hear that we're getting the vote out!

As for some of the controversy, I'm with Prisoner of Hamilton on this one. As I've said before, voting for people other than Tom simply makes it more difficult to get Tom on the ballot. And not to slight Jerry, or Chevy (or, Lord help us, Fergie Olver), but really - Tom has been the lead broadcaster for the Blue Jays for 28 seasons, never having missed a day until this June. We all know the story and really, Tom deserves to be in there more than any of the other people who have been mentioned.

To answer Craig, as well, you're right. The Frick winners aren't "IN" the hall of fame as inductees in the Great Hall, but there is an exhibit honouring all the winners in the broadcasters' wing, which is just off the Great Hall. It's as close as we can get to being in.

And if you're appalled at the vote-stuffing stunt, so be it. Personally, I'm appalled that Tom hasn't won the Frick yet, when U.S.-based broadcasters with far lesser resumes than his have. If stuffing the ballot box is the best way to get the voters' attention with regards to Tom Cheek, then stuffing the ballot box is the way to go. Remember, the online vote isn't for the actual award itself, but to determine who goes on the final ballot. And it's not as though stuffing the ballot box for Tom will knock someone more deserving off the final ballot, because there's no one more deserving than Tom Cheek. If you can make your way down off that horse, I know it's awfully high, we would love you to join us.

As for some of the controversy, I'm with Prisoner of Hamilton on this one. As I've said before, voting for people other than Tom simply makes it more difficult to get Tom on the ballot.

As an escapee from Hamilton, I'm still going to have to disagree on this one. If Jerry Howarth somehow manages to get on the ballot, Tom Cheek absolutely will get on because everyone who votes for Jerry Howarth will also vote for Tom Cheek, while everyone who votes for Tom Cheek will not necessarily vote for Jerry Howarth. Jerry (or Fergie or Chevvy, for that matter) will always have fewer votes than Tom.

Another thing to keep in mind is there are going to be three fan choices on the ballot regardless of what we do here. A failure to pick two other names will not lead to a blank spot on the ballot. If our efforts somehow managed to get Jerry on the ballot along with Tom, that will help Tom's chances of actually winning the award when it's voted on. This isn't intended to slight Jerry's abilities any, but if he's on the ballot he will get very few votes. His inclusion would essentially reduce the number of serious candidates Tom has to beat out to win the award.

Like I said in my previous post, the only way the extra choices hurt Tom's chances of getting on the ballot is if people vote for a serious candidate as well, and that candidate has a following that is also attempting to stuff the ballot box. There's no danger of that happening with most of the secondary choices we've seen in this thread.

(or, Lord help us, Fergie Olver)

I used to be quite disdainful of Fergie Olver, but toward the end of his run, when he was the on-field guy, he was a lot better than his reputation. I heard him say some insightful and useful things.

At least let's get Tom on the final ballot. Besides being a sentimental favorite because of the year he's had, he truly deserves this based on his great work and dedication to the game.

I used to be quite disdainful of Fergie Olver, but toward the end of his run, when he was the on-field guy, he was a lot better than his reputation.

I can't tell if this is an insult or not? :)

Make one vote a day and call me in December.

Hey, Fergie should get some votes merely because of his outstanding work on the game show, "Just Like Mom".

Did he marry Catherine Swing?

How 'bout those Blue Jays...

I used to be quite disdainful of Fergie Olver, but toward the end of his run, when he was the on-field guy, he was a lot better than his reputation. I heard him say some insightful and useful things.

I miss him in that capacity. When the team was at home, he would sit in the camera bay beside the Blue Jays dugout and pass along any interesting information that he heard, like injuries, reasons behind certain decisions, etc. It was almost like having a reporter in the dugout during the game.

My favourite Fergie Olver moment: when his broadcast partner (I think it was Don Chevrier) mentioned that Al Oliver's wife was writing a book, Fergie surmised that there were probably a lot of good recipes in it.

And... "how about those Blue Jays!?"

Does anyone remember the half-hour Blue Jays magazine show that used to be on CFTO in the mid 1980s? The first time I ever saw a report on Rob Ducey was on that show in 1986.

I remember the show as having lots of information but being EXTREMELY slow-paced and low-key (kind of an antethesis of that silly J-Zone that is on today).

It would be cool to see some of those shows today. I wonder if CFTO has them on DVD or VHS?

I actually had a few of those old CFTO shows on tape. Found the tapes recently but no idea if the episodes are still on the tapes or not. I think I still have the 10 minutes of the second SkyDome game when the roof was closing with Lloyd Moseby, the catcher, and the umpire getting soaked while everyone else in the stadium was dry. Also have the season ending shows they used to do with a review of where the team was that year and where it was going, including the 'it takes two' song going while showing the various Cox platoons in place around '83. Hmm. Must go through those old tapes and see if I can convert to DVD before they fall apart.

Does anyone remember the half-hour Blue Jays magazine show that used to be on CFTO in the mid 1980s? The first time I ever saw a report on Rob Ducey was on that show in 1986.

Blue Jays Banter!!

Those were good times.

Make one vote a day and call me in December.

I am voting.. for Tom.. as often as I can remember

But I have to say, it completely escapes me why a proper and honourable voting system would encourage more than one vote per person..

In fact the only reason I can think of is that there is some sort of "traffic driven" compensation (read "advertising")... and there isn't...

so what gives?

http://redsox.mostvaluablenetwork.com
Hello, this is Evan Brunell, I write Fire Brand of the American League (http://redsox.mostvaluablenetwork.com) and I would like to do a link exchange. If you're willing, please send a mail to me at evan_brunell(at)mostvaluablenetwork(dot)com (please supply me with the link you want). Thanks.

Is everybody remembering to vote for Tom daily??

Besides Tom Cheek, I also voted for Harry Heilman, an old Detroit Tigers broadcaster. I voted for him because he's the very first baseball broadcaster I ever heard on the radio. This was back in the late 1940s. I was a Tigers fan until the Blue Jays arrived.

Blue Jays Banter! Yes, that's it!

I really enjoyed that show. All substance, no frills.

Just registered my daily votes for Cheek and Olver (even if I am the only one voting for the Fergmeister!)

Don't worry coliver, this guy's been voting for Fergie as well.

Good show, Four Seamer, good show!

I think that Tom Cheek should definitely be in Cooperstown. There is one broadcaster on the ballot that should be there as well. His name is Jerry Coleman. He is the long time broadcaster for the San Diego Padres. He also broadcasted for the Yankees and Angels. His broadcasting career is over 40 years. He was a former player for the Yankees. His playing career was interrupted twice because of W.W. 2 and the Korean War. His distinguished military record includes 120 missions and two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and three Navy Citations.

Jerry is an unsung hero and entertaining broadcaster who should be in the Hall of Fame

"Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall -- and it rolls off! It's rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres."

I definitely am voting for Tom Cheek to be voted into the Hall of Fame.

Here is a list of announcers and their tenure with their clubs

1. Joe Nuxhall- Cincinnati Reds 1967-2004
2. Denny Matthews-Kansas City Royals 1969- present
3. Mike Shannon-St.Louis Cardinals 1972- present
4. Jerry Coleman-S.D. Padres 1972-1979; 1981-present
In 1980 went from broadcasting booth to manager of the Padres. His team finished last in the N.L. with Hall of Famers Dave Winfield,Ozzie
Smith and Rollie Fingers.
5. Lanny Frattare- Pittsburgh Pirates 1976-present
6. Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren Atlanta Braves 1976-present
7. Dave Niehaus Seattle Mariners 1977-present
8. Tom Cheek Toronto Blue Jays 1977-present