Jerry Howarth has called his last Toronto Blue Jays game.

So what will summer sound like now?

This morning, the man whose dulcet tones have informed and thrilled and soothed fans of the franchise since his debut back in 1981 announced that his pipes are no longer up to the rigours of a 162-game season. He’ll still be a presence on Sportsnet, but part-time play-by-play isn’t in his vocabulary. If a job’s to be done, it’s to be done right.

The rigour with which he approaches his profession is one of the things that even Jays fans who have spent most — or all — of their lives listening to him on the radio might not know about Howarth. He isn’t one to tout his own insider knowledge, or to thrust himself, ever, in front of what’s happening on the diamond. But the hours he puts in during spring training and before every game — the many, many quiet conversations in the clubhouse and on the field during batting practice — allowed him to understand the teams that he broadcast as well as any reporter.