(CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Bob Ridley Night sees fans pay tribute

Apr 2, 2022 | 8:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It was an eruption of cheers Saturday night, for the man who has been behind the Medicine Hat Tigers mic for over half a century.

Fans came out to Co-op-Place as a special banner was unveiled to honour Bob Ridley.

“It’s pretty awesome actually it is something you never actually expect. You work all those years doing what you do, and enjoying what you are doing and you don’t really expect the accolades at the end of it because as you work that is your fun,” Ridley said.

Last year, Ridley celebrated calling his 4,000th game. Ridley began his career in Medicine Hat in 1968. Typical of those in the broadcasting, he originally thought he would be in Medicine Hat for three months, before taking off for the big city, but he said there was something about Medicine Hat that really grabbed him.

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“You know being a farm boy and everything else, I kind of thought, ‘hey this could be the city I’ll want to spend the rest of my life in,’ and it worked out,” he said.

Ridley became sports director of CHAT Television and did play-by-play for the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Blue Jays baseball team.

“I just kept so busy that I had no ambition to move on and do anything else. So here I am and I have enjoyed every minute of it,” he said.

Up until this past year, Ridley only missed one Tigers game in his entire career.

This season, Ridley has had to take a step back from the mic to undergo 26 radiation treatments for prostate cancer.

“I’m getting stronger with each passing week, and each passing month. I’m very fortunate to have a great doctor team that has been helping me along the way and it has been really really good,” he said.

One of those doctors mapping out his path to greater health is former Tigers player Blair St. Martin who now works as a urologist in Edmonton.

At the game, Ridley announced Ridley will be back to call the last game of the season on April 15.