Imrem: Hughes, Hawk both worthy of Fame

The calendar screams autumn but two of our voices of summer are back in the news.

Chicago Cubs play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes hardly had time to leave after describing the Cubs' run to a World Series title.

Now Hughes and Ken "Hawk" Harrelson have been named finalists for the Ford C. Frick Award, which the Hall of Fame presents for excellence in baseball broadcasting.

Could there be two more diverse men to enter our homes, workplaces and maybe Cooperstown some day than Hughes and Harrelson?

They're as different as their home run calls: Hughes' "It's got a chaaaance … GONE!" and Harrelson's "You can put it on the boaaaard … YES!"

Hughes paints pictures of Cubs games on radio and Harrelson expands on what we see of the Chicago White Sox on TV.

Before we go any further, let's officially endorse both Harrelson and Hughes for this year's one available Frick honor.

A good guess is that among the criteria are longevity, authenticity and presentation.

Hughes and Harrelson qualify on all three counts.

Pat Hughes has spent 34 years doing baseball games, the past 21 with the Cubs, and this season might have been his best among a career full of bests.

That's understandable, considering the Cubs' first championship in 108 years provided Hughes with a historic platform.

After a series of dreadful Cubs seasons, Hughes sounded regenerated last year and even more so this year.

Such a wonderful wordsmith and so wonderfully precise, Hughes provided Cubs fans with everything they needed to know about every pitch of every game from April into November.

Each monumental moment was another opportunity for Hughes to demonstrate that he's up to every challenge.

Unscripted, Hughes instinctively knew exactly when to say what … and when to say nothing.

Hughes doesn't go on rants or raves, instead raising his voice to the perfect pitch when something noteworthy occurs.

Something noteworthy like, say, the Cubs winning the World Series.

Hughes and Harrelson both root, root, root for the home team, but the former comes across as a baseball broadcaster pulling for the Cubs and the latter is more like a Sox fanatic broadcasting their games.

Diverse? Well, if they were actors, Pat Hughes would do Shakespeare while Hawk Harrelson would do Marvel.

Harrelson has lost a step in recent years, just as other longtime broadcasters and longtime sports columnists have when they reached their 70s.

(Please don't bring up Vin Scully as someone who didn't; we're talking about mortals here.)

But Harrelson's collection of signature calls - "catbird seat" … "get foul, it does" … and, yes, "YES!" - still resonate with a certain segment of Sox fans.

Then when Sox circumstances allow, echoes will awaken from when Harrelson was in his prime and he was as special a broadcaster as baseball had.

A friend told me not long ago that his son and his son's friends still use Harrelson's calls when they're playing ball: "Right size, wrong shape" … "Can of corn" … and so many others.

Overall, Hawk Harrelson and Pat Hughes have been so distinct and authentic for so long that both belong in the broadcasters' wing of baseball's Hall of Fame.

Perhaps one will be elected as soon as this year.

mimrem@dailyherald.com