Cubs’ Broadcasting Teams a Treasure for Fans
The Chicago Cubs are lucky for the national exposure they received from WGN-TV and WGN America. While that national exposure is gone thanks to the need for TV contracts that pay the team, those fans from bygone years are fans thanks to the Superstation. I remember growing up and watching Cubs games every day during the summer (when night games were the exception at Wrigley and not the rule) and then watching the hometown Cardinals at night. Baseball was in my summer vacation blood early on.
In 1998, shortly after the beloved Harry Caray passed away, I was too young and oblivious to the Hall of Famer’s stardom and importance to Chicago. I was immediately hooked on listening to Chip Caray (again, unaware of the family tradition) call the action of an eventual postseason team and a historical home run chase.
At the same time, Pat Hughes and Ron Santo were calling the action on the radio side. Hughes is a class act and somehow made many 90–100 loss teams sound bearable to listen to. Santo, on the other hand, let his emotions show that he indeed was listening to a pathetic team that couldn’t do the basics. I’ve always said Santo was a team cheerleader who happened to be in front of a live microphone.
Together, the two men made the broadcast their own personal three hour radio comedy show. For a few seasons, the Cubs had a radio affiliate in southern Illinois that carried the games. Prior to me being able to afford MLB.tv, I spent many a summer afternoon sitting on my bed, reading my issue of Sports Illustrated, and listening to the Cubs blunder another game. The thrill of hearing The Pat and Ron Show on a regular basis was music to my ears. Currently, Ron Coomer sits in the analyst chair; however, he will never be mistaken for the Hall of Famer Ron Santo.
The 2004 season was disappointing on several levels for the Cubs and controversy brewed in the clubhouse, bullpen, and broadcast booth. Chip Caray and color commentator Steve Stone had established themselves as the TV voice of the Cubs, and both were fan favorites. Stone never held back his opinions of the team’s poor performances or individual player’s production. Pitcher Kent Merker and outfielder Moises Alou both confronted Stone about his criticism of the team and the veteran broadcaster refused to back off from his comments.
At one point, both players tried to have Stone and Caray banned from the team charter airplane. Near the end of the season after a 12-inning loss, Stone said on-air, “The truth of this situation is [this is] an extremely talented bunch of guys who want to look at all directions except where they should really look, and kind of make excuses for what happened…This team should have won the wild-card [playoff berth] by six, seven games. No doubt about it.” This, along with Chip Caray taking his talents to Atlanta to join his father Skip on TBS, sealed Stone’s departure.
In the 2005 offseason, the Cubs were tasked with filling two voids in the TV booth. Fans had their doubts about who would be hired. Replacing the grandson of Harry Caray and a fan favorite in Steve Stone would be no easy task. In a somewhat surprise move, the Cubs hired Florida Marlins play-by-play man Len Kasper.
A Michigan native, Kasper has his start in Milwaukee doing Green Bay Packers pregame and halftime shows, weekly radio shows, and filling in on Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts. With three seasons in Florida under his belt, the offer the Cubs made to come to the big city and a fan base who cares was too much to pass up for Kasper. Going into his thirteenth season as the Cubs TV voice, Cubs fans have very little to complain about.
Alongside Kasper came a new color commentator, but not a new voice to the Chicago airwaves. Bob Brenly, fresh off of his firing as Arizona Diamondbacks manager, signed on to be the other half of the new broadcast team. Brenly had served as a radio announcer for the 1990 and 1991 seasons, working with the likes of Caray, Santo, and Thom Brennamen.
A regular on national broadcasts on TBS and FOX, Brenly brought a high-profile managerial and broadcasting career to the Cubs and meshed wonderfully with Kasper. At times, Cubs fans may have wondered if they were listening to a ball game or a recording of a comedy club show. Food, music, pop culture, and random trivia or baseball knowledge were always a topic of conversation between the two.
His catcher’s perspective gave the broadcast great baseball knowledge and insight into the intricacies of the game. Ironically, however, “BB” was never shy to point criticism toward a Cubs player. When Alfonso Soriano was playing below average left field, Brenly said on-air that “you could throw a dart in the dugout and hit a better left fielder than Soriano.”
As Cubs fans know, good things never last too long, and on October 17, 2012, Brenly opted out of an extension to his contract and left the Cubs broadcast. The following day, he signed a five year deal to fill the opening on the Diamondbacks TV team, replacing former Cub Mark Grace.
As the Cubs began a national search for a replacement, names such as Rick Sutcliffe and Doug Glanville were tossed around in the news, but the team and the TV partners ultimately brought in Jim Deshaies from the Houston Astros organization. Houston was going through a switch to the American League, and it is believed “JD” wanted to remain in the NL Central. Deshaies made a seamless transition and gelled perfectly with Kasper, almost sounding like a clone of Brenly, in that their self deprecating humor and off the wall comments made them both fan favorites.
Brenly and Deshaies both shared one thing in common: lackluster playing careers and neither are afraid to point out their poor performances. Both analysts have been the benefactor of watching a few winning ballclubs with a few playoff appearances, it seems like Deshaies, along with Kasper, will be calling winning teams for years to come.
In January of 2017, both men signed a three year extension with the team to continue on the plethora of TV stations that carry the games. “We think Len and J.D. are the best team in baseball,” Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said in a statement.
“Their chemistry as a team and their ability to weave baseball history, current events and the Wrigley experience into the game call speaks to their preparation and love of baseball. We are excited to know they will continue bringing Cub games to our fans, especially after such a thrilling and historic season.”
It seems as though Cubs fans have the best of all worlds right now: a championship team, prospects rising through the system, and broadcasters that bring all of us joy and laughs on our summer nights. While the voices of the broadcasters sometime drift off into the background, they should never be taken for granted.
Chris Schomaker loves the Cubs. When he is not writing about the team he loves, you might find him molding the minds of his 5th grade students. (hopefully he throws in a little Cubbie influence too)
