Pat Hughes (baseball)

For other persons named Pat Hughes, see Pat Hughes (disambiguation).

Pat Hughes
Hughes at the 2011 Cubs Convention
Born	May 27, 1955 (1955-05-27) Tucson, Arizona
Nationality	American
Education	San Jose State University
Occupation	baseball play-by-play announcer
Employer	WGN (AM)

Vergil Patrick "Pat" Hughes (born May 27, 1955 in Tucson, Arizona) has been the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Cubs, working for WGN radio, since 1996. He partnered with color commentator Ron Santo, former Hall of Fame third baseman for the Cubs from 1996 until 2010, when Santo died of cancer. Their unique on-air chemistry came to be known as the "Pat and Ron Show". Prior to joining the Cubs broadcast booth, Hughes spent 12 years calling games for the Milwaukee Brewers, with the legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker. Hughes also spent 17 years as a radio television play-by-play man for Marquette University basketball.

Broadcasting career

He is best known for his call of Mark McGwire's 62nd home run in 1998. That home run broke the single-season home run record, and the Hughes narration of the hit is the most often-played call of that moment:

“

He drives one to deep left—this could be—it's a home run! Number 62 for Mark McGwire! A slice of history and a magical moment in St. Louis!

”

On most other instances, his home run call is "That ball's got a chaaaance...GONE!" On longer home runs, Hughes' call often includes the phrase "Get out the tape measure". Another Hughes catchphrase as the first pitch of the game is thrown is "And away we go..." In times of great excitement at the ballpark he will say, "Listen to these fans!" or "They're on their feet at Wrigley." As an intro to the show he will say, "Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air! From Beautiful Wrigley Field in Chicago, it's the Chicago Cubs against the [opposing team]."

If the Cubs have the lead going into opposing team's final at bat, Hughes exclaims, "Fasten those seatbelts!"

The Chicago Tribune reported on November 15, 2006 that Hughes had agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the Cubs.

Hughes' broadcasting career includes stints as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins baseball team, the Minnesota North Stars hockey team, and minor league baseball teams the Columbus Clippers and San Jose Missions. He has also broadcast college games for Northwestern University, San Jose State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Marquette University men's basketball team, as well as announcing games for ESPN.

Hughes' work has earned him the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year award in 1996, 1999, 2006, 2007, and 2009 in addition to three Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year awards from 1990-92.

Hughes graduated from San Jose State University where his father had served as a professor and where Hughes also did some announcing.

Hughes appeared in an uncredited voiceover role as the Basketball Announcer in the 1997 remake of the Disney film Flubber.

Hughes has recently produced, written, and narrated a series of book-and-CD sets on great baseball announcers entitled Baseball Voices. His releases have been short books about former colleagues Bob Uecker, and Harry Caray, as well as Marty Brennaman, Jack Buck, and Harry Kalas.

In July 2008, Hughes' voice was featured in a State Farm commercial, calling the end of a walkoff win for the Cubs, in which a ball was hit onto Waveland Avenue and caught by a teenager who then gives the game winning ball to a young fan of the Cubs.

Running jokes with Ron Santo

Pat often likes to point out when a player has two first names. Also, he frequently uses the phrase "you can slap a 20 on him" or "slap a 20 on me" (a "20" meaning a 20 dollar bill), mostly referencing his supposed cheapness. Pat and Ron also talked about Pat's old sweater kept in their booth at Wrigley Field as a backup in case it got cold and he needed it. Ron claimed that the same sweater had been in there for 13 years. Pat jokes that he's happy to report that it has been dry cleaned once over the 13 years. Some of their other favorite topics included Ron's hairpiece, producer Matt Boltz's drinking habits, and the unofficial scorer.

Family life

Pat Hughes has been married to his wife Trish since 1987. They have two daughters, Janell and Amber.

External links

• WGN's Pat Hughes named 2006 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year
• Pat Hughes Wins "Sportscaster of the Year" Award For Fifth Time
• Bio at Chicago Cubs web site
• Pat Hughes entry at the Internet Movie Database
• Baseball Voices
• Pat Hughes Eulogy for Ron Santo

Preceded by Thom Brennaman

Chicago Cubs Radio Play-By-Play Announcer 1996–present

Incumbent