2023 Ford C. Frick Award winner Pat Hughes
Pat Hughes, who has called Cubs games on the radio since 1996, was the 47th recipient of the Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
“I know I work very hard but so do so many other announcers,” Hughes said. “It’s almost hard to put into words (what this means), and I live by being able to express myself and put things into words.
“Today, I know this award is the greatest honor I will ever receive in my life.”
Born May 27, 1955, in Tucson, Ariz., Hughes attended San Jose State University and began his baseball broadcast career in 1978 with the San Jose Missions. After a season with the Columbus Clippers, Hughes joined the Minnesota Twins broadcast team in 1983 before moving to Milwaukee a year later, calling Brewers games on radio with Bob Uecker, the 2003 Frick Award winner, through 1995.
A nine-time winner of the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year Award, Hughes also won three straight Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year Awards from 1990-92. He has called more than 6,000 MLB games during his 40-year career, including eight no-hitters, the 25-inning White Sox vs. Brewers contest from 1984 that was the longest game in American League history and Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game in 1998.
“You don’t think about the Hall of Fame because it’s something so big, you think: There’s a strong likelihood you’re never going to get in,” Hughes said. “You just work hard, and sometimes good things happen.”
