Pat Hughes is a nominee for the Hall of Fame’s Frick Award... and has a new bobblehead

The Cubs have been fortunate to have Pat Hughes as their radio play-by-play voice since 1996. 2020 will be his 25th year at the Cubs radio microphone; that’s longer than any other individual has held that position. Previously, he broadcast games for the Brewers and Twins and this winter, he is up for an honor:

There’s another Cubs connection among the nominees: Dewayne Staats, who has been with the Tampa Bay Rays for their entire existence (since 1998), was a Cubs radio/TV broadcaster from 1985-89.

The Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award honors broadcasters from all eras of baseball, on the following rotation:

The Frick Award election cycle rotates annually among Current Major League Markets (team-specific announcers); National Voices (broadcasters whose contributions were realized on a national level); and Broadcasting Beginnings (early team voices and pioneers of baseball broadcasting). This cycle repeats every three years, with the National Voices ballot to be reviewed in the fall of 2020 and the Broadcasting Beginnings ballot to be reviewed in the fall of 2021.

Certainly there are many worthy candidates here, but I truly believe Pat Hughes merits this honor in 2020. He’s well-liked among Cubs fans and I can tell you from personal experience with Pat that he is one of the nicest people in broadcasting. He became the first Cubs radio broadcaster ever to announce a Cubs World Series win in 2016, since commercial radio didn’t even exist when the Cubs previously won in 1908.

This also gives me a chance to let you know that the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled a third and final version of the officially licensed, limited edition bobblehead featuring Pat Hughes, which includes a sound chip of his historic radio call of the final out in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

Here’s what it sounds like [VIDEO].

The first edition, which sold out the day it was released, featured Pat in a blue shirt, while the second version featured Pat in a red shirt. This version features Pat in a black shirt with palm trees, which is the shirt that he was wearing during Game 7. In addition, the third version also features a replica of Pat’s Game 7 scorecard on the top of the desk.

The bobbleheads, which are individually numbered to 11,216 to signify the November 2, 2016 date of Game 7. The bobbleheads are $40 each with shipping being a flat rate of $8 per order. The bobbleheads were produced exclusively for the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum and Pat Hughes by FOCO. Full disclosure, the Bobblehead Museum folks sent me one of these bobbleheads. If you don’t already have one of the earlier editions, this one might be a good addition to your collection.

“When we saw a picture of Pat from Game 7, we thought a bobblehead featuring the actual shirt would be a fitting final version of this special bobblehead,” said Phil Sklar, Co-Founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. “With the previous versions of Pat’s bobbleheads nearly sold out, this will give Cubs fans a final chance to have this special bobblehead that will become a cherished keepsake that will be passed down from generation to generation.”

The Bobblehead Museum, which is located 170 S. 1st Street in downtown Milwaukee, is well worth a visit if you’re in the area, as I wrote here in September.

I’m rooting for Pat Hughes to win the Frick Award this year, he’s certainly a well-loved nominee. As noted above, the winner will be announced December 11.