Pat Hughes to Write Book about Ron Santo

Pat Hughes is set to write a book about his partner. Ron Santo: A Perfect Ten, a biography about the legendary broadcaster, is scheduled Father's Day. The biography is sure to include many tales from Pat's 15 years next to Ron Santo. Rich Wolfe will serve as the book's co-author.

Hughes started his first year with a new partner, Keith Moreland, when Spring Training started two weeks ago. He took last weekend off the broadcasts but will return when the Cubs play the Reds on WGN-Radio on Saturday.

Tomorrow will be Ron Santo day in Mesa, Arizona. A pregame ceremony will honor Ronnie before the Cubs take on the Indians at HoHoKam Park. The March 10 date was chosen because of Santo's jersey number. MLB.com's pregame show will include a special tribute.

It will be interesting to see how else Ron Santo is honored this season in addition to this book. WGN Radio released a Pat & Ron Show CD several years back, so perhaps a part two is in the works. Pat Hughes does a great series called Baseball Voices, but that mostly focuses on Hall of Fame announcers.

On a side note... I appologize for the lack of posting this week, I'll catch everyone up with a post on Friday or Saturday.

Cubs in Winter Ball, Rumors, and More

Well, here's the latest Cubs rumors from yesterday and today.

• Buster Olney says that the Cubs have maxed out their spending this winter.
• Bruce Levine and others have been saying that the Bradley deal should be done around the first of the year, so we'll see what happens soon, I expect the Cubs to make at least 1 more move before the convention.
• Interesting article I found about Jim Hendry's first round picks.
• Jason Stark says that the Dodgers have contacted Adam Dunn. The Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, and Orioles all also have interest.
• Stark adds that the Cubs have believed to be his top choice before the Dodgers entered the mix.
• The Dodgers also have interest in Bobby Abreu. They seem to be interested in a lot of the same guys as the Cubs.
• Former Cub Micheal Barrett has agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training with the Blue Jays.

Some guys in the Cubs system have been playing Winter Baseball in Venezuela, the DR, and Mexico. I decided to check in on some of their stats:

Andres Blanco (VWL)- .280, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 58 Games

Ronny Cedeno (VWL)- .278, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 46 Games

Jake Fox (DWL)- .353, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 3 Games

Sam Fuld (VWL)- .333, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 55 Games

Felix Pie (DWL)- .304, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 20 Games

Jose Ascanio (traded to FLO) VWL- 3-1, 7 SV, 3.10 ERA, 29 IP

Angel Guzman (VWL) - 2-1, 5.54 ERA, 26 IP

Rich Hill (VWL)- 1-2, 6.86 ERA, 21 IP

Carlos Marmol (MWL)- pitched 2 innings allowed 0 runs

J.R. Mathes (VWL)- 2-3, 3.86 ERA, 32.2 IP

The main thing in noticed is that both Rich Hill and Felix Pie have struggled.

I got this Pat Hughes and Ron Santo CD for Christmas and would recommend it if you enjoy listening to Pat and Ron on radio. It plays lots of their funny moments and I enjoyed. Click Here for the link.

Cubs Trivia Answer from Sat.: Only 2 Cubs remain from '03; Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano.

I'll keep you posted.