Who Will Succeed Ron Santo At The WGN Mic?

And I don’t mean just for the first game.

I don’t know who else they could get who wants to do 162 games a year on radio. Its not exactly a glamour job, I can’t think of anyone who would fit the Santo ‘diehard fan’ mold.

>Joke<

Knowledge of the game, non-annoying voice, good rapport with Pat.

Otto is painful to me.

Where’s Stoney hanging out these days. New Cubs management might be over the petty grousing?

He’d never do it full time, but he is full of stories and game knowledge. Thoughtful and has a really nice voice and was a friend of Ron’s. Maybe we don’t need Ron’s immediate replacement just yet. Why rush? I wouldn’t mind seeing key Cub’s veterans who also may have ties to the road teams. Have a few broadcasters and let things play out. Moreland was getting pretty good too by the end of the past season.

If not him, isn’t Joe Morgan looking for a gig?

I’ve listened to Karros on Fox and he over-analyzing things, in my opinion and he loves to hear himself talk, I think

Kevin Millar during the Winter Meetings on the MLB Network..wouldn’t mind having him.

1. is NO to Grace. He’s a terrible broadcaster. He’s a self absorbed buffoon who should stay in AZ.

Anyone who has heard the 2003 radio broadcasts from the playoffs got to hear Pat with Steve Stone. I’m not wanting this to be a Steve Stone thread, but I can say that those were tremendous broadcasts. They were two very intelligent baseball men who were also great broadcasters. I’d be shocked if this happened.

Karros and Sutcliffe would be great gets. Both also have good gigs and I’d be surprised to see either commit to a 162 game slate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cubs pursue Dan Plesac, who I believe lives in the western suburbs.

Even money would have it on either Moreland, Otto or Hollandsworth, with the edge to Otto, who has more and more been the fill-in. I actually think that Otto has gotten better over time.

If the Cubs want to consider another alternative, they could go with a different style of booth, the type that Hughes was used to in Milwaukee where there are essentially two play-by-play men. They switch every few innings and while both are in the booth, one is clearly doing the play-by-play and occasionally the other will chime in. Its the antithesis of the Pat and Ron show, but Hughes is likely meant for this. If they were interested, they could actually offer the 2nd PBP position to Cory Provus, who is very good.

Plesac or Moreland would be great. Just – no Otto.

Listening to Len and Bob is a great option, but I really ♥ Pat Hughes and prefer not to have to resort to that.

Unless wgn can somehow lure away Greg Maddux from Hendry.

Just a thought.

But I did enjoy Moreland last year

Second, it has to be a Chicago Cub. Third, look at the demographics of the radio broadcast. This is carried into about 7 states. Farmers on tractors, senior citizens, truck drivers, blue collar workers, etc. I would guess the main audience is 40+ and probably more to the 50 and over crowd. You can’t replace Ron, but you have to come close with a homer, a Cub, a fan of the Cubs, a recognizable name.

I thought about this last week. I tossed the names Sutcliffe, Grace, Moreland, Davis, Otto, Stone, Hollingsworth, Karros around. Sarge Matthews with the Phillies broadcast too. I like Moreland, Karros and Hollingsworth probably the most. Sutcliffe in my opinion would be very good, but I doubt he would do it. Another name I thought of was Scott Sanderson. If you wanted to do something completely out of left field, hire a woman, there would be no comparisons to Ron, but I doubt that happens.

One problem is some of the more recent ball players are probably set financially and the older players that could probably use the money are just too old to handle the 162 games.

This is a very important decision for WGN. Whomever they hire, they have to be good… and respected… and funny… and knowledgeable. The affiliates bring in a lot of money not only to WGN but into their own local advertising market. If affiliates start dropping in a few years, it will be a disaster.

I would be interested to hear the finalists and how they interact with Pat Hughes. That’s going to be the final piece of this difficult decision. I for one, will still miss Ron no matter who is hired.

He does Twin broadcasts last I knew, and is more identified with that team, but he’s as entertaining as hell, at least during Fantasy Camps aided with a little Crown Royal. He’s also buddies with Moreland.

Karros would be a great choice, but I happen to know he lives in the South Bay here in L.A., has kids in school, and might be reluctant to leave that for 6-8 months each year. Now that he’s retired, he’s liking his lifestyle quite a lot. However, he’s a free thinker, he might go for this gig.

Sutcliffe, ever since his cancer, and even before that, has resolved to not working full time ever again. He’d be great, but I doubt he’d want to do it. Please, no Mark Grace, although I can see him being hired because we’d all hate it.

I’ve related the story before, but in San Francisco late one evening in a hotel bar I heard Santo say Steve Stone would never work for the Cubs again as long as he was alive. This was in the presence of Hendry, Piniella and Matt Sinatro. He freely told people that, so if anyone wants to honor Santo’s thinking, they stay away from Stone.

Too bad Randy Hundley is in his late 60’s. He DOES live and die by the Cubs, but it’s be unrequited at times. If they went stopgap, he might do it. I don’t know if Jody Davis is all that well spoken and/or outgoing for something like this. He really wants to manage, however. Another wild card is Lee Smith. He coaches in the Giant organization, but considers himself a Cub. Funny as can be, and we could have another broadcaster getting cheated by the Hall of Fame. Matter of fact, Santo had no radio experience either, you know.

Safe choices are Hollandsworth or Otto, who are like vanilla. Likeable vanilla, but still vanilla. I don’t know if listeners really want that. There mightbe complaining after a while.

Should be interesting.

This is a slam dunk. He did a GREAT job with Pat. He knows the team, the history and is a student of the game. Being an ex-Cub is also a BIG plus.

Look, no one can do what Ronnie did. We all know Ronnie was a cheerleader and that was great. There were NO expectations (or better said, there should not have been any expectations) that Ronnie function as a prototypical color guy. But things have changed and to now expect his replacement do what he did would be unfair to anyone. That since this person would ALWAYS be compared to Ronnie.

And it would be completely unfair to Pat to not get the best man for the post. So I say, get the man who’s almost the opposite of Ronnie’s most loving characteristic; cheerleader. That person IMO is Keith Moreland. He’s very insightful of the games’ conditions and situations and can provide great color while also being a Cub fan. I think he’d do a great job while we can all be rest assured Ronnie’s legacy as the man in the booth will continue forever without anyone trying to replicate his style.

Done…. ’nuff said.

Pat can work around them

and Hundley. Moreland does a great job but being 52, I still would like to have a link with the ’69 Cubs on the broadcast to relive and dissect those days as well. I realize that Randy would be a poor choice because of his age, but I just wanted to opine why I chose him.

My vote is for whoever can keep the seat warm until Dempster retires.

I thought he did a good job in his brief stints subbing for Santo. As mentioned above, he has a lot of experience, having worked Texas football and baseball for years. And he definitely has a Cubs connection.

I could live with Otto, but I think the Cubs can do better.

I hadn’t really thought about Plesac, but I think he’d do a good job.

No to Grace. Sutcliffe and Karros would be acceptable.

Judd Sirott must go. He’s fine on the Blackhawks, though.

I remember when Santo missed the 2003 playoffs and Stone did color with Hughes. That was fantastic radio. Always made me wonder how good Hughes would be if he didn’t have to carry Ronnie on his back for three hours a day (no disrespect intended). Here’s hoping we find out in 2011.

If you can get him away from the Giants, he’d be a good choice. Of course, he has demonstrated the ability to do play-by-play. Because of his playing experience, I know he can do color. Though, Duane Kuiper is a good color guy in San Francisco. I doubt Krukow would want to leave. Maybe, he can’t leave contractually now. He’d be a good choice, if the Cubs can get him.

my vote goes for Moreland. I think he would represent the WGN listeners very well, and brings a great Cubs background to the job.

But slightly OT: can we please either abandon, or at least modify the 7th-inning stretch guest conductor thing? By modify, I mean the following: it should be limited to Chicago athletes, past or present, college coaches in the Chicago area or Illinois, or even national ones if they have STRONG ties to Chicago, or celebrities who are REAL and authentic Cub fans (Bill Murray, Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Garlin, Jim Belushi, Gary Sineese, Vince Vaughn, and a few others). I’m so sick of the TV booth being turned into David Letterman’s sofa every bottom of the seventh so any celebrity in town can stop in for a photo-op and a plug for their latest project. It makes me ill.

There’s a conversation in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (stay with me here):

Mr. Dennit: Ricky, your little obscene gesture is going to cost you 100 points. Do you know how much that costs us in sponsorship dollars?
    Ricky: With all due respect, Mr. Dennit, I had no idea you’d gotten experimental surgery to have your balls removed.
    Mr. Dennit: What did you just say to me?
Ricky: What? I said it with all due respect!
    Mr. Dennit: Just because you say that doesn’t mean you get to say whatever you want to say to me!
    Ricky: It sure as hell does!
    Mr. Dennit: No, it doesn’t—
    Ricky: It’s in the Geneva Conventions, look it up!

Just because this hack says:

Can I say this now safely without sounding like a heartless oaf?

doesn’t excuse you from speaking ill of the dead or, for that matter, make you a less of a jerkoff.

::Rant & swearing, over::

Dan

Pat: Here’s the pitch from Cashner…There’s a deep drive to center and that ball is gone! Looks like Cashner may be tiring a bit Lou.

Lou: Look, what do you want him to do?

Pat: There’s a ground ball in the hole…GREAT play by Castro…OH NO…the ball gets by Pena at 1st and the run scores. He had no chance at him at 1st, Lou.

Lou: Look, what do you want him to do?

Lou and Pat would be great together.

Honestly – I would just like to see someone with a history with the Cubs come in.

I just feel since Ricketts has come on as owner, that a lot of the Cubs history has been severed from the current team. I know that isn’t realy true… but after losing Ryno, then Santo… I just think having someone with a positive Cubs history, coming in, (even for just a year), would be nice.

This is my opinion.

Just a thought.

Eddie Olczyk. He is a big Cub fan.

I will guarantee the next person will be able to do color AND pbp. That’s the only way to go.
That could be Otto, could be Andy Masur, who could leave SD.

As I said earlier, he was looking last winter at other gigs out of SD, as reported locally.
He’s come along very well and would be a great addition to the Cubs radio booth, and eventually could take over for Hughes upon his retirement.

I vote for Andy Masur.

Has been mentioned to be getting the attention of the Yankees!!! He’s “Plan B” after they lost out on Lee. I know, it’s YAHOO…but were it true…that might free up an awful lot of payroll.

Eric Karros, Dave Otto, Mark Grace, Chris Singleton

so Al can enjoy the radio broadcasts the way some of us did when Santo was the regular color guy.

You open it up and almost the first thing you see is a cap with “#10 forever” on it and a red rose….very sweet. It’s a very cool cap and had to have meant alot to whomever left it. very cool

then Karros or Sutcliffe. I wonder how Hollandsworth would do

though I think Moreland or Pleasac would be fine. I don’t mind Otto but I think I would prefer he remain the go-to sub. The idea of Andy Masur returning is intriguing.

He does color and some play by play on Dodger radio with Charley Steiner. Great radio voice, kind of a somnambulist. Was a Cub during the 70’s, saved the flag and all that.

Like many that have already commented, I thought Moreland did a genuinely good job filling in. But I wonder if he would really want the job….cause he’s in a pretty sweet gig right now, doing both football and baseball for the University of Texas, where he played both sports as a student. While WGN radio would probably pay more, it also requires him to take up the MLB travel schedule for eight months a year as he nears sixty. On top of that, he’s become a fixture in Austin and an ambassador for his alma mater. Moreland relishes that role, as he makes clear in a bio feature by the Austin paper.

If WGN really wanted him above all other potential candidates, I suppose they could work out a deal where he could still do Longhorns football and we’d get Dave Otto on September Saturdays. Still, as much calling Cubs games seems like a plum position to all of us, I can’t imagine that deciding to take the job would be a no-brainer for Moreland, a professional that already has a very comfortable announcing gig.

Just to purge him for the year, and then hopefully, the guys in white coats and jackets will take him to the happy home where life is beautiful all the time.

to Gracie!!

I’m heartened to see all the hate for Gracie! I thought I was the only Cubs fan who couldn’t stand the guy once he stepped into a broadcast booth. I felt kinda cheated after I signed up for MLB Extra Innings last season because I knew there was one broadcast I could NEVER watch: the D’Backs!

I honestly think he could never pull his mug away from the cameras to do radio, so probably not much chance…

What is Lee Elia up to theses days?

but this is definitely something thats gonna take time to decide

How’s your “AW JEEEZ,” these days, Al?