Should Jackie and Tom Get Banners?

 

 A question I have wondered to myself since the Toronto Blue Jays decided to retire their first jersey number is, should they now officially retire Jackie Robinson's number in the same fashion? By that, I mean should they honour Jackie with a number 42 banner, like they did for Alomar and his number 12? Recently, however, I have also been thinking, should the Jays have a banner for Tom Cheek as well?' Let me make my cases  for both.                                                                                        

First, the argument for Jackie Robinson:

 When Jackie Robinson's 42 was universally retired by Major League Baseball in 1997, the Blue Jays did not have a system in place for retiring jersey numbers. Instead, the Blue Jays had their Level of Excellence, on which were the names and numbers of former great Toronto Blue Jays; however, none of the players on the Level of Excellence had had their jersey numbers retired by the organization. Because of the fact that the Blue jays did not have a club policy on retiring jersey numbers, Jackie Robinson got the Level of Excellence treatment - with his number 42 beside his name.  

 

                                           

 With Roberto Alomar being elected as the first Blue Jay into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011, the Blue Jays came up with a new policy regarding player jersey retirements. Any player who entered the Hall of Fame as a Blue Jay would be deemed worthy of having their jersey number officially retired by the team; and they set a precedent with Alomar that jersey retirements would receive a banner with the jersey number on it hanging from the Roger's Centre rafters. Now I realize that Jackie did not enter the Hall of Fame as a Blue Jay (obviously), however, his number IS retired universally by MLB and the Jays FINALLY have a way to honour retired jerseys. So, with that in mind, I think the proper thing to do is for the Jays to hang a 42 banner from the rafters, officially recognizing their retirement of that number in honour of Jackie.

The argument for Tom Cheek:

                                             
                                             

 Tom Cheek, like Jackie Robinson, has his name on the Blue Jays Level of Excellence. In front of Tom's name is the number 4306, which - for those who don't know - represents the number of consecutive games Tom called as the Blue Jays radio play by play announcer. In 2012 Tom was awarded with the highest honour a broadcaster can get from Cooperstown, he was awarded with the Ford C Frick award. Now, even though Frick Award winners aren't officially classified as Hall of Fame inductees, they are represented in the Hall of Fame with a plaque - for the record, that makes them Hall of Fame inductees in my opinion. With Tom Cheek being in the Hall of Fame - as a representative of the Blue Jays - doesn't he deserve a banner of recognition?

 You may be thinking, well you don't want to get crazy and give EVERYBODY a banner. While that is true, the Blue Jays DID hang a banner in recognition of Pat Gillick's election into the Hall; and, in fairness to Tom Cheek, Gillick did not go in representing solely one team. I know Gillick said in interviews that if he had a choice, he would have gone into the Hall representing the Blue Jays. Unfortunately, as already stated, Gillick IS NOT in there representing the Blue Jays, however Tom Cheek IS. In my opinion, that qualifies Tom to be honoured with a banner at the Roger's Centre.