Lest you think this is all anti-Reds bias let me share a clip with you. If you think I was going to miss a chance to put a member of the Brennaman family dead last on a list, you don’t know me that well. It was also Ron Santo’s debut in the booth. Yes, it was that Thom Brennaman who was the Cubs radio announcer for over five years. Thom Brennaman and Ron Santo (radio, 1990-95) All opinions below are mine and do not reflect anyone else at Cubs Insider.ħ. With all that said, it is time to get to the rankings. Individual announcers can be on the list multiple times and I will grade only team performance for that specific pair, not an overall mark for each person.įinally, an announcing duo must have been together for at least five seasons to qualify for consideration. A good broadcast team is a good broadcast team no matter how you listen to them. Second, I am going to combine radio and TV announcers into a single list. I just don’t feel I can give an opinion on them because they came before my time.

That means we won’t be ranking Jack Brickhouse and Lou Boudreau, who announced together from 1961-81.

Let’s go over some ground rules before we get into the actual rankings.įirst, we’re going to start in 1981 when Cubs WGN broadcasts went national. The Cubs have been fortunate to have numerous excellent broadcasting duos over the years so, since there’s nothing else to talk about right now, the time has come to rank them. Or maybe they just provide a few chuckles when your team is being blown out. Even if your attention is elsewhere at times, they’re keeping you apprised of the situation and pulling you back into the game when something exciting happens. Over the course of 162 games and several seasons, the members of the booth become almost members of the family. A key feature of those replays is the announcing team, which can help even as much as the grainy footage to transport you into the past. There is little to suggest baseball’s lockout will end anytime soon, which means the only way you’re watching the Cubs is through highlights on YouTube or replays on Marquee.

Cubs baseball commentator