Blue Jays announce the Howard Starkman Award

The Toronto Blue Jays annually award the Bobby Mattick Award for excellence in Player Development and the Al LaMacchia Award for excellence in scouting. Today the organization is honoured to announce another prestigious award, the HOWARD STARKMAN AWARD to be presented annually to the Employee of the Year. This award will be displayed in Rogers Centre and will include the following,

"The Howard Starkman Award was established in April 2014 to honour the career of long-time Blue Jays employee Howard Starkman. It is granted annually to the Employee of the Year for the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, who best exemplifies the values of integrity, innovation, accountability, team work and a passion for winning. At the inception of this award, Howard was the longest standing Blue Jays employee having started with the club in 1976. In a career with the Blue Jays that spanned five decades, Howard was the recipient of numerous accolades. The prestigious Robert O. Fishel Award for excellence in Public Relations was bestowed upon Howard in 1995, he was twice recognized by the Toronto Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America with the Good Guy Award, he won the Sports Media Canada President's Award in 2012 and he was part of the World Champion Toronto Blue Jays organizations of 1992 and 1993. Over the years, Howard mentored and guided the careers of many within the sports business, a gift that is looked back on with sincere and heartfelt gratitude."

Howard Starkman will officially retire tomorrow, Friday, April 11 as the longest serving employee in the organization and will be the inaugural recipient of the award named in his honour.