Thomas F. Cheek (June 13, 1939 – October 9, 2005) 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 (MLB), from the team's establishment in 1977 until his retirement in 2004. During that time, he covered a 27-year streak of 4,306 consecutive games plus 41 post-season games—from the first Blue Jays game on April 7, 1977, until June 3, 2004. He 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, chronicling the first 16 years of Blue Jays baseball. Cheek received the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award after being nominated as a finalist for the award every year since 2005. Biography Early life Born and raised in the west side of Pensacola, Florida, Cheek, an avid sports fan, was given his first tape recorder at age 14, which inspired his interest in broadcasting. His father, also 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. From 1957 to 1960, Tom Cheek (the son) 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. During this time he was introduced to New York Yankees broadcaster Red Barber. Following his discharge in 1960, he attended the Cambridge School of Broadcasting in Boston for two years. Early broadcasting years Cheek began his radio broadcasting career in Plattsburgh, New York as a disc jockey on WEAV in 1962. He then moved to Burlington, Vermont where he worked for WDOT and was quickly promoted to corporate sales manager and sports director. He 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. In 1968, he was almost hired as the first broadcaster for the newly formed Atlanta Hawks of the NBA, but Skip Caray was chosen instead. The newly formed Montreal Expos were looking for an