Pat Hughes
was contemplating the best way to handle his emotions during Friday’s season-opener at Wrigley Field — his first regular-season Cubs broadcast on WGN-AM 720 since
Ron Santo’s
death.
“You know what I’m probably going to do?” Hughes said with a smile before the loss to the Pirates. “I think I’m going to purposefully spill all of my soup on my trousers before the game. Because that would immediately make all of us think of Ron Santo. Maybe that’s the way we should start our day.”
Santo died last December at the age of 70.
Santo’s son,
Ron Jr.
, and daughter,
Linda
, led the crowd in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning. Santo’s teammates
Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins
and
Randy Hundley
took part in a pre-game tribute to Santo.
Replacing Santo as Hughes’ color analyst is
Keith Moreland
, who had subbed for Santo on occasion the last couple of years and worked with Hughes this spring training.
“I think he did great, and this is not an easy job for him, or for anybody who replaces a legend like he’s doing,” Hughes said. “So you’ve got to keep that in mind. But Keith is fun, he’s knowledgeable, he’s a team player. And I have a good feeling about it. But, again, the chemistry is something. … You just have to let it evolve naturally.”
Like 1984?:
As Moreland prepared to work his first regular-season Cubs broadcast, he compared the experience to breaking into the major leagues as a player with the Phillies in 1980.
“They are close,” Moreland said. “I can remember that I was called to the big leagues a couple of times before I actually made a big league roster out of spring training. And when that happened that first time, you were sort of ‘Yeah, I’m all right with this.’ Then, the day came. Then you sort of get there.
“Well, it is sort of the same thing for this. I’ve had some opportunities to do some substituting (for Santo on WGN radio). I worked with such great people here. But this is a little different day.”
Moreland, who was a member of the 1984 Cubs team that lost 11 straight spring training games but went on to win the division title, says this year’s Cubs could fare surprisingly well.
“We won seven spring training games,” Moreland said. “There are two things that we didn’t have in ’84 that this team does have. They have pretty good starting pitching and a great bullpen. Anytime you’ve got good pitching, you’ve got a chance. Now it’s about putting those tallies on the board, and I think that will be the key to the season.”
Now batting: Paul Friedman
, the Cubs’ public address announcer at Wrigley Field for the last 16 years, is pursuing another business opportunity. He has been replaced by
Andrew Belleson
, who previously handled those duties for the Rockford River Hawks.
“I enjoyed my time here, but it’s time to move on,” said Friedman, who attended Friday’s game. “(Belleson) comes here with more experience than I had when I first started with the Cubs, so he will do fine.”
Sights seen:
Mayor-elect
Rahm Emanuel
, a big Cubs fan, took part in the pre-game ceremonies and watched the game from a box seat. … Famed actor/director
Robert Redford
, who Thursday night called Wrigley Field and Fenway Park “the two greatest stadiums in America,” threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The crafty left-hander faked a pitch initially, then tossed a high hard one to
Kerry Wood
.
