Cubs announcer Pat Hughes gets a major Hall of Fame honor

Team radio play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes has been named the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award winner by the Baseball Hall of Fame. This comes after he was nominated for the award in 2016 and 2020.

Hughes is the third Cubs’ broadcaster to earn the honor, joining legendary announcers Jack Brickhouse (1983) and Harry Caray (1989), both of whom called a number of games on WGN-TV, Channel 9.

“On behalf of my family and the entire Cubs organization, I want to congratulate Pat on this remarkable accomplishment,” said Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts in a statement released by the club. “The Ford C. Frick Award is a highly prestigious award that recognizes the ‘best of the best’ in broadcasting and no one is more deserving of this award than Pat. Outside of his impressive resume, Pat is a truly wonderful person who cares deeply about Cubs fans and the game of baseball.

“We’re so incredibly lucky to have had him as a member of the Cubs family for the past 27 seasons and look forward to celebrating this accomplishment, and many more, in the years to come.”   

The 67-year-old Hughes has been the Cubs’ radio voice for the past 27 seasons, calling games on WGN-AM and WSCR-AM during that time. Over the past few years, he has also added occasional television play-by-play duties on Marquee Sports Network.

During that time, Hughes has been on the call for eight no-hitters and nine Cubs’ postseason appearances. That included the 2016 World Series championship, becoming the first announcer to make the call on the final out of a title-clinching win for the franchise.

Hughes has been named Illinois Sportscaster of the Year nine times, was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, and the Cubs Hall of Fame in 2022.