Ron Santo

Ron Santo, who passed away ten years ago today at the age of 70, was unique in Chicago sports history. No other person was so prominent as a player and so beloved as a broadcaster for such a long time.

    

RON SANTO

 

Santo the player was easily the best National League third baseman of his day and one of the best of all time. He was a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glover, and four times finished in the top ten in MVP balloting. For the period of 1964 through 1969, Santo had the highest WAR (wins above replacement player) in the major leagues—better than Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, or anyone else. By that measure, he was the most valuable player in baseball over the six-year period.

     The core players on the Cubs teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s--Santo, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Glenn Beckert, Randy Hundley, Don Kessinger, and Ken Holtzman--became lifelong friends. Unfortunately, they never won any championships together, and Santo's personal accomplishments did not land him in the Hall of Fame during his lifetime (he was inducted posthumously in 2012). That was a bitter pill, but Santo swallowed it with the same fortitude that carried him through his long and harrowing struggle with diabetes.
 

Santo the broadcaster spent two decades in the Cubs' radio booth, teamed first with Thom Brennaman and Bob Brenly, and then, for 15 years, with Pat Hughes.
     As a broadcaster, Santo was a mirror for the feelings of his listeners in good times and bad. No one was more delighted than Santo when the Cubs won, and no one was more disappointed when they lost. Few fans will forget Santo's anguished cry of "Oh, nooooooooo!" when left fielder Brant Brown dropped a fly ball in 1998 that cost the Cubs a late-season game and almost cost them the wild-card playoff berth they eventually won.
     It was easy to criticize Santo for being too much of a cheerleader, for not doing his homework, etc., but most of his listeners didn't care. They knew that he was genuinely invested, as they were, in the fortunes of the Cubs. And Hughes was a very generous partner. He cleverly found a way to make their broadcasts work not in spite of Santo's limitations, but because of them. One of the memorable exchanges between the two went something like this:
     Hughes: "Former Cub Ruben Quevedo coming on to pitch for the Brewers."
     Santo: "Who is it?"
     Hughes: "Ruben Quevedo."
     Santo: "He hasn’t missed too many meals."
     Hughes: "You could say that, Ronnie."
     Santo: "He reminds me of someone we had not too long ago."
     Hughes: "Who might that be, Ron?"
     Santo: "Hmmm."
     Hughes: "Should I give you a hint?"
     Santo: "It's on the tip of my tongue, Patrick."
     Hughes: "Might it be Ruben Quevedo?"
     Santo: "Oh gosh, I’m not sure."

 

 

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Voices of Summer: The Cubs on Radio

The home-team baseball broadcaster has a unique position among sports announcers. None other visits with fans every day for six months at a time, year after year and even decade after decade. None other is so inseparable from our memories of specific plays and players and games, or of lazy summer afternoons and evenings from long ago. None other becomes virtually a family member for those who closely follow the team. Pat Hughes, the current radio voice of the Cubs, is celebrating his 25th year as such an honorary family member to his listeners.

    

PAT HUGHES

The Cubs began broadcasting their games on radio in 1924, on television in 1948. In the early years, the club did not grant exclusive rights to any station, so fans could choose among multiple stations carrying the same ballgame at the same time with different announcers. WGN was closely identified with the Cubs for many years, and younger fans might be surprised to learn that it was the exclusive home of the Cubs on radio "only" from 1959 to 2014. Both WGN and the Cubs were owned by the Tribune Company from 1981 until the Cubs were sold to the Ricketts family in 2009.

     Below is the complete list of Cubs broadcasters on radio.

 

Radio Stations

Various, 1924-1943

WJJD, 1944

WIND, 1945-1958

WGN, 1959-2014

WBBM, 2015

WSCR, 2016-present

 

Radio Play-by-Play (era of multiple stations)

Hal Totten, 1924-1935 (WMAQ)

Quin Ryan, 1925-1927 (WGN)

John O'Hara, 1928-1933 (WCFL)

Bob Elson, 1928-1941 (WGN)

Pat Flanagan, 1929-1940 (WBBM)

Russ Hodges, 1935-1938 (WIND)

John O’Hara, 1936 (WJJD)

Hal Totten, 1936-1943 (WCFL)

John Harrington, 1937-1938 (WJJD)

Charlie Grimm, 1939-1940 (WJJD)

Pat Flanagan, 1941-1943 (WJJD)

Jack Brickhouse, 1942-1943 (WGN)

 

Radio Play-by-Play (era of single station)

Bert Wilson, 1944-1955

Jack Quinlan, 1956-1964

Vince Lloyd, 1965-1986

Dewayne Staats, 1987-1989

Thom Brennaman, 1990-1995

Pat Hughes, 1996-present

 

Radio Analyst

Bud Campbell, 1951-1953

Bob Elson, 1954

Jack Quinlan, 1955

Gene Elston, 1955-1957

Milo Hamilton, 1956-1957

Lou Boudreau, 1958-1959

Charlie Grimm, 1960

Lou Boudreau, 1961-1987

Jim Frey, 1987

Dave Nelson, 1988-1989

Bob Brenly, 1990-1991

Ron Santo, 1990-2010

Keith Moreland, 2011-2013

Ron Coomer, 2014-present

 

Duly Noted: Harry Caray frequently worked on radio for the Cubs during his 16 years (1982-1997) with the club, usually handling play-by-play for three innings per game. He is not listed above because his main area of responsibility was the TV booth.

Voices of Summer: The Cubs on Radio

    

LOU BOUDREAU & VINCE LLOYD

     With two feet of snow on the ground in Chicagoland and the temperature straining to get above zero, it seems a good time to turn our thoughts to summer--and baseball broadcasts have been one of the key features of summer for the past nine decades or so.
     The home-team baseball broadcaster has a unique position among sports announcers. None other visits with fans every day for six months at a time, year after year after year. None other is so inseparable from our memories of specific players and games, or of lazy summer afternoons and evenings from long ago. None other becomes virtually a family member for those who closely follow the team.
     The Cubs began broadcasting their games on radio in 1924, on television in 1948. In the early years, the club did not grant exclusive rights to any station, so fans could choose among multiple stations carrying the same ballgame at the same time with different announcers. WGN has been closely identified with the Cubs for many years, and younger fans might be surprised to learn that it has been the exclusive home of the Cubs on radio "only" since 1959. Both WGN and the Cubs were owned by the Tribune Company from 1981 until the Cubs were sold to the Ricketts family in 2009.
     Below is the complete list of Cubs broadcasters on radio.

Radio Stations
Various, 1924-1943
WJJD, 1944
WIND, 1945- 1958
WGN, 1959-present

Radio Play-by-Play (era of multiple stations)
Hal Totten, 1924-1935 (WMAQ), 1936-1943 (WCFL)
Quin Ryan, 1925-1927 (WGN)
John O'Hara, 1928-1933 (WCFL), 1936 (WJJD)
Bob Elson, 1928-1941 (WGN)
Pat Flanagan, 1929-1940 (WBBM), 1941-1943 (WJJD)
Russ Hodges, 1935-1938 (WIND)
John Harrington, 1937-1938 (WJJD)
Charlie Grimm, 1939-1940 (WJJD)
Jack Brickhouse, 1942-1943 (WGN)

Radio Play-by-Play (era of single station)
Bert Wilson, 1944-1955
Jack Quinlan, 1956-1964
Vince Lloyd, 1965-1986
Dewayne Staats, 1987-1989
Thom Brennaman, 1990-1995
Pat Hughes, 1996-present

Radio Analyst
Bud Campbell, 1951-1953
Bob Elson, 1954
Jack Quinlan, 1955
Gene Elston, 1955-1957
Milo Hamilton, 1956-1957
Lou Boudreau, 1958-1959
Charlie Grimm, 1960
Lou Boudreau, 1961-1987
Jim Frey, 1987
Dave Nelson, 1988-1989
Bob Brenly, 1990-1991
Ron Santo, 1990-2010

Duly Noted: Harry Caray frequently worked on radio for the Cubs during his 16 years (1982-1997) with the club, usually handling play-by-play for three innings per game. He is not listed above because his main area of responsibility was the TV booth. Or was it singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"?

Ron Santo, 1940 - 2010

RON SANTO

     Ron Santo, who passed away early Friday morning at the age of 70, was unique in Chicago sports history. No other person was so prominent as a player and so beloved as a broadcaster for such a long time.
     Santo the player was easily the best National League third baseman of his day and one of the best of all time. He was a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glover, and four times finished in the top ten in MVP balloting.
     For the period of 1964 through 1969, Santo had the highest WAR (wins above replacement player) in the major leagues—better than Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, or anyone else. His figure of 45.7 means that the Cubs won that many more games with Santo in the lineup than they would have won with an average player in his place. By that measure, Santo was the most valuable player in the major leagues over the six-year period.
     Unfortunately, the Cubs never won any championships during Santo's career, and (as has been well documented) his considerable accomplishments did not land him in the Hall of Fame—at least during his lifetime. That was a bitter pill, but Santo swallowed it with the same forebearance that carried him through his long and harrowing struggle with diabetes.

     Santo the broadcaster is better known than Santo the player, at least to fans under the age of 45 or 50. He spent two decades in the Cubs' radio booth, teamed first with Thom Brennaman and Bob Brenly, and then, for the past 15 years, with Pat Hughes.
     As a broadcaster, Santo was a mirror for the feelings of his listeners in good times and bad. No one was more delighted than Santo when the Cubs won, and no one was more disappointed when they lost. Few fans will forget Santo's anguished cry of "Oh, nooooooooo!" when left fielder Brant Brown dropped a fly ball in 1998 that cost the Cubs a late-season game and almost cost them the wild-card playoff berth they eventually won.
     It was easy to criticize Santo for being too much of a cheerleader, for not doing his homework, etc., but most of his listeners didn't care. They knew that he was genuinely invested, as they were, in the fortunes of the Cubs. And Hughes was a very generous partner. He cleverly found a way to make their broadcasts work not in spite of Santo's limitations, but because of them. One of my favorite exchanges between the two went something like this:
     Hughes: "Ruben Quevedo now coming on to pitch for the Brewers."
     Santo: "Who is it?"
     Hughes: "Ruben Quevedo."
     Santo: "He hasn’t missed too many meals."
     Hughes: "You could say that, Ronnie."
     Santo: "He reminds me of someone we had not too long ago."
     Hughes: "Who might that be, Ron?"
     Santo: "Hmmm."
     Hughes: "Should I give you a hint?"
     Santo: "It's on the tip of my tongue, Patrick."
     Hughes: "Might it be Ruben Quevedo?"
     Santo: "Oh gosh, I’m not sure."