Pat Hughes, Hawk Harrelson Named Finalists For Ford Frick Award
By Bruce Levine--
(CBS) Two iconic Chicago baseball broadcasters have been named finalists for the coveted Ford Frick Award, given annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes and White Sox television play-by-play man are two of the eight finalists for the award.
The other finalists are Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Bill King, Mike Krukow, Ned Martin and Dewayne Staats. A 17-member committee will vote for the winner of the award, which will be anounced on Dec. 5 at the Winter Meetings.
Hughes just called the first World Series championship of his storied career when he provided the sights and sounds of the Cubs' title run on 670 The Score. He has 34 of experience as an MLB broadcaster, the last 21 with the Cubs. Prior to that, he worked 12 years with the Brewers and one with the Twins. Hughes has been voted the Illinois Broadcaster of the Year 11 times. He also runs a site called baseballvoices.com, which creates and hosts highlight packages of the greatest broadcasters in the game's history and some of baseball's most historic calls.
Harrelson has broadcast White Sox games for more than 30 years, and his resume also includes stints with Boston and the New York Yankees. Many well-known baseball terms -- such as "put it on the board" and "grab some bench" -- have become part of the game's jargon because of Harrelson's home-spun broadcasting style.
The Hall of Fame selected broadcasters based on commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting ability, reverence within the game, popularity with fans and recognition by peers. Candidates can be active or retired, so long as they have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network or combination of the two.
The winner of the Ford Fricke Award will be honored as part of the Hall of Fame weekend festivities in July 2017.
Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse and Bob Elson are past Chicago broadcasters to receive the award.
