Verge: Broadcasting legend Howarth mastering bridge in retirement

Toronto Blue Jays broadcasting legend Jerry Howarth, who turns 77 today, is mastering the game of bridge in his retirement. Photo: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

March 12, 2023

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

A lot of preparation and an unfaltering commitment to the game.

Two attributes that made Jerry Howarth a beloved voice of Blue Jays games for 36 years have also made him an incredible duplicate bridge player in retirement.

His days, once filled with traveling to different cities to bring the roar of the crowd, the taste of a hot dog and the feel of a warm plastic blue seat to fans through the radio, are now slightly more laid back. He doesn’t have to take a plane, or even a car to commute to these games. He can attend them right from the comfort of his Etobicoke home.

Six days a week he plays. In the mornings, he’s catching up on Facebook messages and emails. In the evenings, he’s spending time with his wife of 51 years, Mary. But at 1 p.m. sharp, with the exception of Fridays, you can find him logged in online, fully enjoying his sixth year of retirement as a skilled duplicate bridge player.

He’s drawn to the game because of the similarities it has to baseball.

In his lengthy career as a Blue Jays play-by-play announcer, he was fortunate to have such great partners on the air who he worked with, he said, - Tom Cheek, Alan Ashby, Jack Morris and Joe Siddall. In bridge, it’s just as important to work with your partner for a successful outcome.

“That's why I love bridge, it's so similar to what I was able to do in baseball,” Howarth said.

If there was a bridge all star game, he would be going. In baseball terminology, he’s in the big leagues.

“I’d have to say right now I’m a major leaguer who is winning more than he's losing,” he said.

He’s gotten to the top of his bridge game using some of the same tactics that made him such a successful Blue Jays play-by-play announcer.

On the top left-hand corner of his scorecard, the same as he used to write on his scorecard at the ballpark, he writes the word “lag.” Every single game. As an announcer in the booth, it was to remind him to slow down. He always tried to stay a half a count to a full count behind the play by play to avoid making unnecessary mistakes.

“I didn't jump in too quickly and make too quick a call,” he said. “I observed everything and then eventually that lagging really helped me.”

The patience has also helped him in his duplicate bridge play. He started out making about 25 mistakes per game, and he’s now reduced that to three or four.

“I've gone from the minor leagues to the major leagues,” he said, with an average of over .500.

What also drew him to the game is the preparation aspect. He must’ve read about 40 bridge books by now, he said. It’s that behind the scenes work at the Rogers Centre and the MLB parks he traveled to that also helped him be a great announcer. Jays fans heard Howarth come through the radio with his powerful and friendly voice, telling stories of players in between pitches and plays. What they didn’t see was him showing up at the field early, between 2:30 - 3 p.m. to do the research to make for a successful broadcast.

He would spend a couple of hours, 162 times a season, chatting with everybody, from players and managers to umpires. He would then take all of their stories and insight from the day and their careers upstairs to the booth to share with the audience across Canada.

“That's what people I think over my career really enjoyed, were the insights that players had that through me they could then share too,” he said. “As far as their ups and downs and what a career meant in baseball, and it was just fascinating for me, and then to share that with my partners on the air was terrific.”

Although Howarth has taken a step away from baseball in retirement, he had a big part in his successor, Ben Wagner coming to Toronto to take over as play-by-play announcer. He is very disappointed to hear that not only will they be calling the games remotely this season, but that Wagner hasn’t had a former player as a partner in all five years he’s been there.

“You need to have two people who are in-sync the entire time over 162 games,” he said. “And the other player with the play-by-play announcer is a former player to share his experiences down on the field. Caleb Joseph, there's an example of somebody who’s there. Hire him full-time, give him the job and let him work with Ben for 162.”

Wagner took over for Howarth after he retired from his long career for health reasons in 2018. After having prostate surgery two years prior, his sleep schedule suffered and he was only averaging between three to four hours of sleep per night, he said. He lost the stamina he needed to continue to call the games. Although he still has trouble sleeping, his overall health is good, he said, and all of his PSA tests in the past six years to check for prostate cancer have been zero.

On March 12, the beloved voice for Jays fans on the radio for so many years will celebrate his 77th birthday.

He’s had 36 years of birthdays celebrated in Florida at Spring Training, but this one will be special, celebrated with his wife, son and daughter in law, and their grandson. It will likely include ice cream and cake, but hopefully a few less candles than his age.

“There better not be 77 candles to blow out or else the house is going to be up in smoke,” he said, adding that he’s grateful for another year to celebrate.

“When you put your head on the pillow at night, say ‘thank you God for this day, and if I'm blessed with tomorrow, let's do this again.’”