Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair named winner of Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award
Sportsnet baseball analyst Jeff Blair has been named the winner of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2018 Jack Graney Award.
Le Temple situé à St-Marys remet annuellement ce prix à un membre des médias qui contribue de façon significative au développement du baseball au Canada par son travail.
“Jeff Blair is one of our country’s most respected and authoritative baseball analysts and writers,” said Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s director of operations. “Today’s fans know him for the strong insight he provides on his radio show and Baseball Central, but his roots in baseball go back three decades when he began covering the Expos for the Montreal Gazette. We’re proud to recognize an analyst and writer of his calibre with this award.”
Born in Kingston, Ont., Blair grew up in Morden, Man., and attended the University of Manitoba where he started his career in sports journalism when he became sports editor of the school’s newspaper.
After he graduated, he worked for the Winnipeg Free Press for five years, followed by two years with the Calgary Herald. In 1987, he joined the Montreal Gazette, where, for over the next decade, one of his primary assignments was covering the Montreal Expos. After 10 years in Montreal, Blair was hired by The Globe and Mail where he would write about baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays for more than a decade prior to joining Sportsnet in 2010.
While with Sportsnet, he has evolved into one of the network’s most recognizable personalities. He hosts the popular weekday morning program, The Jeff Blair Show, on Sportsnet 590 The FAN and also serves as Sportsnet’s leading baseball analyst. He is also the co-host of Baseball Central alongside Kevin Barker and is a regular contributor to Blue Jays Central.
Despite his busy schedule, he also found time to author Full Count: Four Decades of Blue Jays Baseball, an extensive book about the history of the Blue Jays that was published in 2013.
In all, Blair has spent close to four decades in sports journalism and he has also covered multiple Olympics, World Series and Stanley Cup finals.
“It’s an honuor to be part of a group of people I’ve watched, listened to, and read for a long time – people who have taught me what I know about the sport I love in the country I love. We’re a small community who have shared planes, pressboxes and, yes, sometimes grudges. But we’re all proud of our sport, and proud to be in the company of Jack Graney. Thanks to the selection committee and board of directors for considering me worthy of this honour.” says Jeff Blair
Details about the presentation of the 2018 Jack Graney Award will be announced in the coming months.
Né à St Thomas (Ontario), Jack Graney était le premier frappeur des Indians de Cleveland. Sa carrière dans les Majeures se résume en plusieurs premières : il a été le premier frappeur à affronter Babe Ruth des Red Sox de Boston au monticule le 11 juillet 1914 et le premier à porter un numéro sur son uniforme le 26 juin 1916. Lorsqu’il a accroché ses crampons, Graney est devenu le premier ancien joueur à faire le saut sur la galerie de presse en tant que descripteur à la radio pour les Indians. Il a occupé ce poste de 1932 à 1953.
Lauréats précédents :
1987 – Neil MacCarl – Toronto Star
1988 – Milt Dunnell – Toronto Star
1990 – Austin “Dink” Carroll – Montreal Gazette
1991 – Joe Crysdale & Hal Kelly – CKEY
1996 – Dave Van Horne – Expos de Montréal
2001 – Tom Cheek – Toronto Blue Jays
2002 – Ernie Harwell – Tigers de Détroit
2003 – Allan Simpson – Baseball America
2004 – Jacques Doucet – Expos de Montréal
2005 – Len Bramson – TBS Sports
2009 – Ian MacDonald – Montreal Gazette
2010 – Bob Elliott – Sun Media & canadianbaseballnetwork.com
2011 – W.P. Kinsella – Auteur « Shoeless Joe » adapté du « Champ des rêves ».
2012 – Jerry Howarth – Toronto Blue Jays
2013 – Rodger Brulotte – Expos de Montréal, Blue Jays de Toronto
2014 – Richard Griffin – Toronto Star
2015 – Serge Touchette – Le Journal de Montréal
2016 – Larry Millson – Globe and Mail
2017 – Alison Gordon – Toronto Star
2018 – Jeff Blair – Sportsnet
