The post-Rogers renaissance of Blue Jays broadcaster Mike Wilner

Mike Wilner (CJN file photo)

For years, Mike Wilner has been beloved by Torontonians as the voice of Blue Jays baseball on the radio, calling games, taking fan calls and interviewing players. His tenure with the team ended unceremoniously last fall, when Rogers, which owns the team, let him go.

But the veteran announcer hasn’t disappeared: he landed a gig as the baseball columnist for the Toronto Star; his baseball podcast, Deep Left Field, is one of the highest-rated baseball podcasts on Apple; and he recently finished a run calling games for Team Israel Baseball during their barnstorming tour of the Northeastern United States.

Wilner joins Menschwarmers, The CJN’s Jewish sports podcast, to chat about his long career, his new ventures and why he doesn’t often ask ball players if they’re Jewish.

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is “Organ Grinder Swing” by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.