Cubs' Hughes to emcee Pitch and Hit banquet

Cubs radio broadcaster Pat Hughes will serve as the master of ceremonies at the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago's 63rd annual awards banquet on Jan. 25th at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

The Pitch & Hit Club, founded in 1942 by a group of Chicago area professional baseball scouts, has held the annual banquet for more than six decades to honor baseball people at all levels, including scouts, players, coaches, umpires, executives and members of the baseball media. It is the oldest industry-wide winter baseball banquet in the Chicago area. Proceeds from the dinner go to benefit baseball related causes including Cubs Care, White Sox Charities, and the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation.

Tickets for the dinner are $60 each or $600 for a table of 10 and can be purchased on line at www.pitchandhitclub.org or by phone at (847) 781-8039. Doors open at 4 p.m., with dinner at 5:30 p.m. Visit the Pitch and Hit Club website atpitchandhitclub.org for more information.

Hughes has been the play-by-play voice of the Cubs, working for WGN radio, since 1996. Hughes' work has earned him the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year award in 1996, 1999, 2006 and 2007, in addition to three Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year awards from 1990-92.

Honorees during the star-studded evening will include the Pitch & Hit Club's Players of the Year for both the Cubs and White Sox as well as the annual Nick Kamzic Scout of the Year, Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame Award, Bill Gleason Sportswriter of the Year, Major League Executive of the Year, Chicago area Minor League Player of the Year among others. Honorees are currently being selected by the club's membership and will be announced in the weeks leading up to the affair.

A host of major league players and celebrities will be on hand for the pre-dinner autograph session. The evening also includes special baseball vendor exhibits as well as a memorabilia show and silent auction.