So far, so good for our Blue Jays. The newbies came through and Roy Halladay pitched another gem as we beat the Twinkies 6-3 in front of 50,449 at the ballpark fomerly known as SkyDome.

All was perfect, but something was missing. For the first time in the history of the franchise, Tom Cheek was not in the booth to call a Jays opener. I tuned into the radio broadcast prior to the game to hear Jerry Howarth talk about his former partner and when I heard about Tom's wife Shirley making it to the booth but not being able to step inside, I almost lost it. Cheek called 4,306 consecutive regular-season games, plus 41 more in the postseason, and passed away last season. Here he is calling Joe Carter's World Series winning homer. Here are some other entries I've written about the man over the years.

• Tom & Jerry
• Tom Cheek
• Tom Cheek
• Sportsnet Choice Obvious
• Mike's Quote of the Week
• The Thrill of the Grass
• An Unfillable Hole
• Emotional Rescue
• Thinking About Tom
• Rest in Peace
• Tom Cheek's Definitive Moment

It won't be the same without Tom Cheek calling Blue Jays baseball.