Re: Santo back on the HOF ballot

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

The only reason you all even think Ron Santo is a decent color guy is because of Pat Hughes. Hughes is such a good announcer and does so much for Santo it is really like he is doing two jobs at once. Listen to a game and try and count how many times Hughes saves Ronnie on one of his stories where he loses track or corrects him with his descriptions of the pitchers or of a play. I bet you will lose count. All of that said I love Ronnie but sometimes I wish we had someone like Otto in the booth with Hughes so he could devote all of his energy to PBP. /waits for flaming about how I somehow want Ronnie dead :roll:

You were doing good up until Otto.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Honestly I couldn't think of any good color guys off the top of my head. Otto has been decent when he has filled in for Ronnie. I'm sorry. :(

[Old Style]

This Santo-bashing is sad. If you're listening to the radio expecting a true color analyst, then you're missing the point. Santo is there for his heartfelt emotions and incredible dedication to the team he played for and follows, not for communications skills. Pat Hughes has enough professionalism and talent to make up the difference, anyway.

 

Santo's a fan in the booth, an unabashed homer, a survivor, the ultimate Cubs fan, and thoroughly deserves the HOF.

I have heartfelt emotions, incredible dedication to the Cubs, and am a complete homer..can I be a color analyst?

Has your number been retired by the Cubs?

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

no, but I did stay at a holliday in express last night.

[rynefan]

Ron will get in regardless, but I want to see it happen while he's alive. HOF voters (and for that matter every kind of voter) have a bad habit of not giving a crap about anything until someone passes away, and Ronnie deserves to have an induction ceremony.

And if there's anyone who truly would appreciate it, it's Santo.

 

Right, exactly. As opposed to someone like Milt who admits on television that he was watching a Sox game over a Cubs game. I love Ron's true blue Cubbiness.

[robnail]

I think the Caray/Stone and Hughes/Santo broadcast teams set the standard for what a sports broadcast should be. In their own way, each combines an extraordinary talent for one aspect of sports broadcasting with the sense of raw homer-ism and fun that make sports so enjoyable in the first place. Stone's color commentary could serve as a secondary baseball education over the course of a full season, while Hughes' smooth delivery and remarkable ability to adjust is an example of of gold-medal live reporting.

 

Sports "fans" love to rant and rave about babbling home-town sportscasters as if they have some divine right to be provided with a full broadcast team of the highest quality, so that said "fan" may experience some hypothetical nirvana of sports information dispersal when watching a game. I don't get it. I watch or listen to games to experience the emotional highs and lows, to yell and scream and be a kid again. I watch or listen to games to escape.

 

When something thrilling happens in sports, there's nobody better to have in the booth than a blatant homer. Don't believe me? Listen to the Appalachian State broadcast of last year's Michigan upset. During the decisive play, all you hear is a passionate alum--probably a guy who played, probably a guy who never thought in a million years his little school cold knock off freaking Michigan--screaming his head off. There's no analysis. There's no breakdown of Michigan's blocking scheme versus Appy States' special teams package. Just pure passion. It was beautiful. It was sports.

 

While post-stroke Caray and all-the-time Santo have required WGN to seek out extraordinary talents to balance out the deficiencies of some very deficient homers, I have never in 25 years as a Cubs fan felt like I was missing something. But there have been many times I felt like there was somebody behind the mic feeling the way I felt.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

This Santo-bashing is sad. If you're listening to the radio expecting a true color analyst, then you're missing the point. Santo is there for his heartfelt emotions and incredible dedication to the team he played for and follows, not for communications skills. Pat Hughes has enough professionalism and talent to make up the difference, anyway.

 

Santo's a fan in the booth, an unabashed homer, a survivor, the ultimate Cubs fan, and thoroughly deserves the HOF.

 

Then he can shut up and wait for a chance to yell "yes."

 

His stupid rambling stories that Hughes indulges him in cause three at-bats to go by without comment.

[Sammy Sofa]

This Santo-bashing is sad. If you're listening to the radio expecting a true color analyst, then you're missing the point. Santo is there for his heartfelt emotions and incredible dedication to the team he played for and follows, not for communications skills. Pat Hughes has enough professionalism and talent to make up the difference, anyway.

 

Santo's a fan in the booth, an unabashed homer, a survivor, the ultimate Cubs fan, and thoroughly deserves the HOF.

 

Then he can shut up and wait for a chance to yell "yes."

 

His stupid rambling stories that Hughes indulges him in cause three at-bats to go by without comment.

 

No, they don't.

 

You never miss anything important on a Cubs radio broadcast.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

This Santo-bashing is sad. If you're listening to the radio expecting a true color analyst, then you're missing the point. Santo is there for his heartfelt emotions and incredible dedication to the team he played for and follows, not for communications skills. Pat Hughes has enough professionalism and talent to make up the difference, anyway.

 

Santo's a fan in the booth, an unabashed homer, a survivor, the ultimate Cubs fan, and thoroughly deserves the HOF.

 

Then he can shut up and wait for a chance to yell "yes."

 

His stupid rambling stories that Hughes indulges him in cause three at-bats to go by without comment.

 

No, they don't.

 

You never miss anything important on a Cubs radio broadcast.

 

Hmm. Is there a national and local WGN radio that causes us to get different games?

[Sammy Sofa]

I've never heard a play, important or otherwise, missed on a Cubs radio broadcast.

 

Santo rambles, but he doesn't talk over Pat when a play actually occurs outside of his usual background emotional responses/noises (for which his mic is often turned down or even off if need be) if the play merits one.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I've never heard a play, important or otherwise, missed on a Cubs radio broadcast.

 

Santo rambles, but he doesn't talk over Pat when a play actually occurs outside of his usual background emotional responses/noises (for which his mic is often turned down or even off if need be) if the play merits one.

 

I've had it happen to me several times. I'll be somewhere where I can't access the game, and I turn it on right as inning begins.

 

After the first batter was cut off by a commercial break, Santo starts off on some story and Hughes gets in some pointless, psuedo-funny jibe. They banter awkwardly, Santo rambles off into some laughing/coughing fit, Hughes steps in and points out, as an aside, the batter No. 2 grounded out a minute ago and No. 3 is now up with a 2-0 count.

 

I've been listening for 3 minutes and not heard the score, nor a single pitch described.

[IowaCubsFan]

Ron will get in regardless, but I want to see it happen while he's alive. HOF voters (and for that matter every kind of voter) have a bad habit of not giving a crap about anything until someone passes away, and Ronnie deserves to have an induction ceremony.

And if there's anyone who truly would appreciate it, it's Santo.

 

 

Is there a Cubs fan who wouldn't cry during his induction? I get choked up watching, or just thinking about, his number retirement ceremony.

I get misty thinking of how he (and my aging father) would react to a World Series win all the time. I think I want it more for them than I do myself.

 

Exactly.

 

My Dad sent me a text Sunday night saying something to the effect, "Grandpa would have really enjoyed this season." He passed right before the start of the NLDS last year.

 

I don't want to be saying that about my Dad in 30 years when the Cubs win it. Hell, I don't want my kid to be saying that about me in 50 years!

 

My grandfather lived for 82 years without ever seeing the Cubs win a World Series. He played semipro ball for a couple of years, got the best of the Japanese on Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and Okinawa, worked for 20 years as a farmer and 20 more as a manager of a seed corn plant, but that one World Series always eluded him.

 

A few months before he died in 2004, he had 9 inches of his colon and a third of his liver removed due to cancer. When he awoke after surgery, he asked the surgeon, a big Cubs fan himself, "How did we do?" The surgeon began to describe to my grandfather how the surgery went, when Grandpa interrupted him and said, "I know the surgery went ok, because I'm still here. I meant, how did the Cubs do? Prior was supposed to pitch today."

 

Win or lose, the guy was there for every single game (except for the west coast games, as his bedtime was 7:30 or so) , on TV, and then on radio in later years when his eyes began to fail him. He was the definition of a die-hard fan.

 

He'd have been overjoyed with this team, and I'd love to see the Cubs finally get it done this year if only for those like my grandfather, who never got to see it happen in their lifetimes. A HOF induction ceremony for Ronny would just be icing on the cake.

[bcl412]

I think if they throw a third guy in the booth who could do color they'd be fine.

[Sammy Sofa]

I've never heard a play, important or otherwise, missed on a Cubs radio broadcast.

 

Santo rambles, but he doesn't talk over Pat when a play actually occurs outside of his usual background emotional responses/noises (for which his mic is often turned down or even off if need be) if the play merits one.

 

I've had it happen to me several times. I'll be somewhere where I can't access the game, and I turn it on right as inning begins.

 

After the first batter was cut off by a commercial break, Santo starts off on some story and Hughes gets in some pointless, psuedo-funny jibe. They banter awkwardly, Santo rambles off into some laughing/coughing fit, Hughes steps in and points out, as an aside, the batter No. 2 grounded out a minute ago and No. 3 is now up with a 2-0 count.

 

I've been listening for 3 minutes and not heard the score, nor a single pitch described.

 

I'm sorry, I'm never going to believe for a second that they let an entire play go by without any mention of it. That's basically a slam on the professionalism of Hughes as a broadcaster, especially if you're saying that he opts himself to banter with Ron instead of calling the game. Not liking Santo is one thing, but saying Hughes purposely ignores plays is complete BS.

[IowaCubsFan]

I think if they throw a third guy in the booth who could do color they'd be fine.

 

I always thought Gracie would be a good choice for the #3 guy, and then slide into Ron's spot when he eventually retires. However, after doing TV for several years, I wonder if he'd think that radio would be a step down.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

*shrug* Believe what you choose to believe.

 

When WGN doesn't even *advertise* it as a Cubs game, but the "Pat and Ron show," I think it shows where their priorities are.

 

And the reason I don't like Santo in the booth is *because* Hughes has let himself be dragged down by him. When they first started working together, Hughes was brilliant and carried Santo.

[Drew Doughty]

Pat and Ron as a pair are still phenomenal even if Santo isn't great. In two years of listening to like 75% of the games I have yet to hear them miss a key play in the game. Maybe a pitch or two, but not entire plays or batters.

[Cynosure]

The only reason you all even think Ron Santo is a decent color guy is because of Pat Hughes. Hughes is such a good announcer and does so much for Santo it is really like he is doing two jobs at once. Listen to a game and try and count how many times Hughes saves Ronnie on one of his stories where he loses track or corrects him with his descriptions of the pitchers or of a play. I bet you will lose count. All of that said I love Ronnie but sometimes I wish we had someone like Otto in the booth with Hughes so he could devote all of his energy to PBP. /waits for flaming about how I somehow want Ronnie dead :roll:

 

Seriously it's sad, Cubs fans are brainwashed to like him =\

[CubmanPi]

The only reason you all even think Ron Santo is a decent color guy is because of Pat Hughes. Hughes is such a good announcer and does so much for Santo it is really like he is doing two jobs at once. Listen to a game and try and count how many times Hughes saves Ronnie on one of his stories where he loses track or corrects him with his descriptions of the pitchers or of a play. I bet you will lose count. All of that said I love Ronnie but sometimes I wish we had someone like Otto in the booth with Hughes so he could devote all of his energy to PBP. /waits for flaming about how I somehow want Ronnie dead :roll:

I am a huge fan of Ronnie, but I could never make this statement with a straight face. Purely as a color commentator, he's nothing short of awful, but I enjoy him anyway.

[cubman356]

The only reason you all even think Ron Santo is a decent color guy is because of Pat Hughes. Hughes is such a good announcer and does so much for Santo it is really like he is doing two jobs at once. Listen to a game and try and count how many times Hughes saves Ronnie on one of his stories where he loses track or corrects him with his descriptions of the pitchers or of a play. I bet you will lose count. All of that said I love Ronnie but sometimes I wish we had someone like Otto in the booth with Hughes so he could devote all of his energy to PBP. /waits for flaming about how I somehow want Ronnie dead :roll:

You were doing good up until Otto.

 

+1

[TruffleShuffle]

santo is a cheerleader who wears his heart on his sleeve. i think he's a lot of fun to listen to, just because you don't usually hear people in broadcasting who you know are into it just as much as you are.

 

there's a big difference between hawk and santo, being that hawk is the one who is doing play by play. he's telling the viewer at home what is going on, and those people are almost never homers to the extent that he is. he's also extremely unprofessional when his team is faring poorly; santo will moan and go "awww man" but he won't just sit there not saying anything.

 

as for santo and the hof, i hope to be taking a weekend off next summer to drive up to cooperstown.

[bukie]

The only reason you all even think Ron Santo is a decent color guy is because of Pat Hughes. Hughes is such a good announcer and does so much for Santo it is really like he is doing two jobs at once. Listen to a game and try and count how many times Hughes saves Ronnie on one of his stories where he loses track or corrects him with his descriptions of the pitchers or of a play. I bet you will lose count. All of that said I love Ronnie but sometimes I wish we had someone like Otto in the booth with Hughes so he could devote all of his energy to PBP. /waits for flaming about how I somehow want Ronnie dead :roll:

 

Seriously it's sad, Cubs fans are brainwashed to like him =\

 

Or, you know, he's just a likable guy that everyone knows is as big a Cub fan as anyone.

[kente777]

I think the Caray/Stone and Hughes/Santo broadcast teams set the standard for what a sports broadcast should be. In their own way, each combines an extraordinary talent for one aspect of sports broadcasting with the sense of raw homer-ism and fun that make sports so enjoyable in the first place. Stone's color commentary could serve as a secondary baseball education over the course of a full season, while Hughes' smooth delivery and remarkable ability to adjust is an example of of gold-medal live reporting.

 

Sports "fans" love to rant and rave about babbling home-town sportscasters as if they have some divine right to be provided with a full broadcast team of the highest quality, so that said "fan" may experience some hypothetical nirvana of sports information dispersal when watching a game. I don't get it. I watch or listen to games to experience the emotional highs and lows, to yell and scream and be a kid again. I watch or listen to games to escape.

 

When something thrilling happens in sports, there's nobody better to have in the booth than a blatant homer. Don't believe me? Listen to the Appalachian State broadcast of last year's Michigan upset. During the decisive play, all you hear is a passionate alum--probably a guy who played, probably a guy who never thought in a million years his little school cold knock off freaking Michigan--screaming his head off. There's no analysis. There's no breakdown of Michigan's blocking scheme versus Appy States' special teams package. Just pure passion. It was beautiful. It was sports.

 

While post-stroke Caray and all-the-time Santo have required WGN to seek out extraordinary talents to balance out the deficiencies of some very deficient homers, I have never in 25 years as a Cubs fan felt like I was missing something. But there have been many times I felt like there was somebody behind the mic feeling the way I felt.

 

Bravo! =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The only reason you all even think Ron Santo is a decent color guy is because of Pat Hughes. Hughes is such a good announcer and does so much for Santo it is really like he is doing two jobs at once. Listen to a game and try and count how many times Hughes saves Ronnie on one of his stories where he loses track or corrects him with his descriptions of the pitchers or of a play. I bet you will lose count. All of that said I love Ronnie but sometimes I wish we had someone like Otto in the booth with Hughes so he could devote all of his energy to PBP. /waits for flaming about how I somehow want Ronnie dead :roll:

 

Seriously it's sad, Cubs fans are brainwashed to like him =\

 

Or, you know, he's just a likable guy that everyone knows is as big a Cub fan as anyone.

 

Exactly. I don't expect everyone to dislike him just because I do. I understand what he brings to the table, and if that's what people are looking for, that's cool.

[andrew9991]

I've never heard a play, important or otherwise, missed on a Cubs radio broadcast.

 

Santo rambles, but he doesn't talk over Pat when a play actually occurs outside of his usual background emotional responses/noises (for which his mic is often turned down or even off if need be) if the play merits one.

 

I listen all the time as well and never recall anything more than a pitch being missed. Hughes does his fair share of joking around/story telling but is always on point and is, in my opinion, the best play-by-play guy around.

 

And as far as Ron goes, I love him. I think the yelling, grunting, and pure emotion is great. Besides, whenever he does any of those things, I'm doing it right along with him. If the Cubs hit a go ahead homerun in the bottom of the eighth there is no way I'm listening to the color guy break down the pitch, the swing, or the ballpark conditions; I'm yelling and, if possible, jumping up and down. If I want to break down the at-bat, I'll check out a replay a couple hours later after I've calmed down. In the moment, nothing beats a Pat Hughes and Ron Santo call.