The Road to Glory: Sixteen Years of Blue Jays Fever

by Tom Cheek

Book by Cheek, Tom, Berger, Howard

Genres: Baseball, Sports

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Jason Parke]

Tom Cheek broadcasted 4,306 consecutive Toronto Blue Jays baseball games from April 7, 1977 to June 2, 2004, and writes about his experiences, opinions, thoughts and events from before Toronto's Opening Day in 1977 to after their World Series victory in October 1992. It's a lengthy book, but not uninteresting, as the first third of the book talks about his life before baseball and the events that led him to the Hall of Fame broadcaster he became. Year by year analysis of Toronto's lean years and contenting years are well told in the remainder of the book, and a chapter is also devoted to his broadcasting experience during the infamous earthquake occurring during the San Francisco Giants/Oakland Athletics World Series, revealing a personal side of those broadcasting heroes we think we know.

As you read the book, it feels like you are sitting in a coffee shop or bar listening to him tell his personal stories, including from those baseball minds he met during his baseball career, his influences, opinions on the game of baseball as well as culture within the Blue Jays organization. His descriptive detailed events on games and player statistics is perfect for any baseball fan.

Tom Cheek died from a battle with brain cancer in 2005, but a few years before, I was privileged to have talked with him on a Blue Jays caravan tour. What stood out most of my conversation was his ability to care about me as a person, a teenager whose passion was the Toronto Blue Jays, and having admiration for a broadcaster whose voice WAS Canadian summer baseball.