By Peter James,
CanWest News Service
When baseball fans tuned into the first Toronto Blue Jays telecast in 1977 they heard the voice of Don Chevrier calling the action.
Chevrier died suddenly in Florida on Monday after suffering from a blood disorder. He was 69.
“There’s no doubt he helped establish the Blue Jays brand,” Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey said. “He made those guys in the first season, who lost 100 games, sound a lot better than they were.”
Chevrier was the first television voice of the Blue Jays and held the job for two decades, but the versatile broadcaster also called about 20 other sports including football, hockey, boxing, horse racing and curling. He called Grey Cup games for Canadian television during the 1960s and 1970s.
“He had just a tremendous voice, but also a tremendous knowledge of the game. Not just baseball but every sport he covered,” said former Blue Jays catcher Ernie Whitt, who played on the team when Chevrier was the announcer.
Whitt said he’d have long talks with Chevrier, discussing every aspect of upcoming games and he trusted the broadcaster not to disclose any of what he said until the broadcast began.
“That fact that the players felt comfortable to confide in him bode well for his career as a broadcaster,” Whitt said.
Although he began his career in Canada, spending a lot of time with CTV, Chevrier eventually moved to the United States and worked for NBC’s Olympic coverage. He was known for his versatility, covering sports ranging from table tennis to synchronized swimming.
“Synchronized swimming – he’d never done that in his life,” said Don Duguid, who called Olympic curling with Chevrier on NBC. “We had a lot of fun with that, him and I. I said, ‘What do you know about swimming?’ he said, ‘It’s just one hand in front of the other.’ “
Chevrier helped to introduce more Americans to curling through his Olympic broadcasts.
“We did about 50-60 hours of curling in 2006 and just got fantastic numbers and we were going to do the same again in 2010,” Duguid said.
Chevrier won two Nellie awards for broadcasting in the United States and was won the Sports Media Canada achievement award in 2004.
“He was an absolutely super broadcaster. He had that great voice, that booming voice,” Duguid said. “He just had a wonderful memory on him. He could remember events years and years back and relate them like they happened yesterday.”
“He had that recognizable and distinguished voice … Don had it all,” Godfrey said.
Chevrier eventually settled in Florida. He was suffering from a low platelet count when his body was found in his Palm Harbour, Fla., home by his son-in-law.
Chevrier was always willing to make time for his friends and colleagues.
“When Tom Cheek, the former Blue Jays’ radio announcer, had his long and courageous battle with cancer, he lived in Florida and Don was a constant companion,” Godfrey recalled.
The Blue Jays will pay tribute to Chevrier in 2008.
“I’m sure we will honour him once the season begins,” Godfrey said.
With files from CFL
