Pat and Ron Show

The Pat and Ron Show is the name of the Cubs radio broadcasts on WGN Radio 720 AM. It is named after the main broadcasters Pat Hughes, Ron Santo.

Setup

After the Pregame show, that starts half an hour before each game, they will play a rock version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame which after completed once the lyrics stop and they mention the sponsors followed by the last line of the lyrics. After an introduction, Pat Hughes will say "Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air". Then it's pretty much normal broadcasting throughout the game. Pat Hughes takes a break in the fifth inning in which Cory Provus takes over until Pat comes back in the sixth. Afterwards they will name the Chevy Player of the Game and then play the Take Me Out to the Ballgame as in the beginning.

Jokes

They will often make jokes in between the action of the ballgame. They will usually have a couple of jokes every game so at 10:30 on Sunday night, during The Nick Digilio Show, they will have The Pat and Ron Highlight Reel Show. During the show, they will play highlights submitted by listeners via Email and will be voted on by the People in the studio. A long running set of jokes is about Matt Boltz and drinking. One example of a Matt Boltz drinking joke came in the middle of a game in July of the 2008 season. Boltz had asked Pat to mention a friend who had celebrated a birthday that day. After Pat was done, Ron responded, "She must be a bartender."

TV and radio

Unlike the Cubs TV, the Pat and Ron Show broadcasts all regular and postseason games. During the postseason and regular games on national television, there will be neutral broadcasters. Sometimes fans find that the neutral broadcasters might be biased. When the broadcasters appear to be biased against the Cubs, some fans will mute the TV and turn on the radio. Most of the TV broadcasts are slightly delayed.

Famous moments

It might not have been a Cubs historic moment, but Ron's hairpiece incident was a big event in the booth. During a broadcast at Shea Stadium, Ron was standing in the booth when the overhead heater burned his hairpiece. That incident added to Ron's dislike of Shea Stadium. Pat and Ron were in the booth on September 14, 2008 during Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter against the Astros. On the following Friday, the game was rebroadcast in its complete form.

Ron's attitude

If someone just tunes in, they can sometimes tell how the game is being played from a Cubs fan's standpoint by the attitude of Ron Santo. He will often get upset about fans disrupting a broadcast or bad calls unless the Cubs have a very big lead. One example of a fan disruption came in July of the 2008 season. The Cubs were on the road playing the Houston Astros. In the 6th inning of the game, Ron was reading an e-mail to Pat. While he was reading the note, he heard an Astros fan screaming "Let's go 'Stros!". After hearing this Ron then reported,"...and there's somebody screaming down there. They ought to shoot him." Everyone in the booth bursted out laughing. Ron will also get very excited when the Cubs are doing well. He will contribute stuff that he learned as a player.

Contests

There will also be contests that go along with the game. The Binny's Beverage Depot Attendance Game is when Pat and Ron guess the attendance at that game. Fans enter via mail in hopes that they can win of a pair Cubs tickets to an upcoming game and to be entered in the grand prize drawing for $10,000. It used to be that the fan would guess whether Pat or Ron would be the closest to tha actual attendance. It is currently played by Pat and Ron agreeing on an amount and if they are within 2,000 of the actual attendance, the person who enters wins [http://wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40085&Itemid=317] . Another game is the Back-to-Back Jacks Contest. It is entered by listening to the pregame show and being the seventh caller. If the Cubs hit back-to-back home runs, the person who entered will win $1,000 or $7,000 if the homers take place in the seventh inning [http://wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40083&Itemid=317] .

Charities

There are usually a couple of charities that will receive money when the Cubs do stuff. Some charities include the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and hospitals. For example, for any Cubs player that draws a base on balls, Walgreens donates money to JDRF.

Staff

The main broadcasters are "the Voice of the Cubs" Pat Hughes and Cubs legend Ron Santo. However, if Ron can't broadcast the game for whatever reason, former Cubs pitcher Dave Otto will fill in. Cory Provus is the assistant broadcaster who will also give updates on out-of-town scores. Matt Boltz is the producer/engineer.