Posted by The Portage? on December 22, 2010 at 20:03:03:
Field for Cubs' radio analyst appears wide open
Former Cubs are preferred candidates to succeed Santo but others will be considered
By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter
5:49 PM CST, December 22, 2010
When the Cubs and WGN hired Ron Santo to team up with Thom Brennaman and Bob Brenly in the radio booth 20 years ago, they weren't sure of what they were getting.
Santo was a successful businessman after his playing career, but had no experience as an analyst. They were hopeful he could provide the raw emotion Dick Butkus brought to Bears' broadcasts and decided to live with his lack of polish.
As it turned out, that lack of polish is what helped turn Santo into an iconic symbol of the Cubs franchise, perennially hopeful and frequently crushed, but always interesting.
Less than three weeks after Santo's death, the Cubs and WGN are beginning the search for his replacement in the radio booth. Play-by-play man Pat Hughes, who signed a five-year deal Monday, will be a part of the process, which is expected to take three weeks.
It's a delicate subject, coming so soon after Santo's funeral.
"We wanted to do this as respectfully as we could," WGN-AM 720 sports director Dave Eanet said.
"It's not something we wanted to plunge right into. But we're not too far from spring training and there is a vacant seat in the booth. Having said that, we know we're not going to replace Ron Santo."
The search is still in the preliminary phase, Eanet said, and would be a joint effort between the radio station that will employ him and the Cubs. WGN's vice-president and general manager Tom Langmyer and Cubs president Crane Kenney already have consulted with Hughes.
"I've spoken to both management teams, the Cubs and WGN, and we've discussed potential replacements for Ronnie," Hughes said. "I appreciate that they consulted me, and I do have some thoughts on it, but I don't have the final say."
Eanet said they hope to have a decision in time for the annual Cubs Convention on Jan. 14-16 at the Hilton Chicago.
Tribune Co. Web site's posting of the job vacancy reads: "Preferred candidate will have played with the Chicago Cubs — or played major league baseball with previous broadcast experience as a game analyst." Eanet said it's "not a prerequisite" that Santo's replacement be an ex-Cub, but it is their "preference."
Several ex-Cubs-turned-analysts fill the bill, including Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Dan Plesac, Eric Karros, Gary Matthews and Mitch Williams.
Eanet said the list of candidates will include those who have filled in for Santo in the past, but declined to address speculation on rumored candidates. Dave Otto and Keith Moreland, both of whom filled in for Santo during his absences the last few years, will be interviewed.
Comcast Sports Net analyst Todd Hollandsworth and ESPN's Doug Glanville, both former Cubs who have become in-studio analysts, are likely to get interviews as well.
Former Cubs broadcaster Steve Stone is a prominent name many Cubs fans would like to see return. Stone has a long-term contract with the White Sox and sources indicate he is not expected to seek a third act on the North Side. Grace and Sutcliffe are the most prominent ex-Cubs on the TV side, but they have national obligations with Fox and ESPN, respectively, that would conflict with the Cubs' job.
Plesac and Williams work at MLB Network and Karros works for Fox. Whether they would be interested in going through the grind of a 162-game schedule remains to be seen. One out-of-the-blue pick that probably would get the Santo stamp of approval is former manager Lou Piniella, who spent the 2006 season as an analyst for Fox.
But Piniella said at the recent Winter Meetings he has no plans to go back Into broadcasting, and it's unlikely the Cubs would approve of their last manager analyzing the new one.