There’s a runaway favorite pair of baseball announcers in town, and many of you won’t be the least bit surprised at which pair it is.
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we asked voters to pick a “best” between Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer (Cubs radio), Jon Sciambi and Jim Deshaies (Cubs TV), Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson (White Sox radio), and Jason Benetti and Steve Stone (Sox TV). Partners Benetti and Stone had a field day.
“The last-place finishers in this poll would be tops in a large number of markets,” @DavidLaurilaQA commented. “Chicago baseball fans are fortunate.”
No argument here.
We also pitted Cubs manager David Ross against Sox manager Tony La Russa — why not? — and asked voters to pick the most important thing when attending a baseball game. Is it the seats? The weather? The price? The outcome?
“A good game,” @a_gee_8 countered, “regardless of the seats, weather, price or who wins.”
That’s certainly one way of looking at it. On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Which baseball booth is best?
Time again for our weekly “Polling Place” questions. Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) June 16, 2022
Q1: Which baseball booth is best?
Upshot: Benetti and Stone blend superstar quality with local authenticity, and the strength of their rapport is obvious and a huge plus. As long as Hughes has been at it, though, and as terrific as he is, it’s understandable that @mikewalsh4609 wishes he could pair him and Stone. Hey, what about sticking Kasper in a booth with Deshaies? Now there’s a wacky idea.
Poll No. 2: Your team has a chance to be good next year, but you have to pick David Ross or Tony La Russa to manage it. Who’s your guy?
Q2: Your team has a chance to be good next year, but you have to pick David Ross or Tony La Russa to manage it. Who’s your guy?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) June 16, 2022
Upshot: We cannot tell a lie — we are shocked by the size of the gap in these results. Is Hall-of-Famer La Russa really this poorly thought of? Asked @gprobst15, “Who is voting for Tony? Get help!” And @RVictory2020 took issue with the very premise, writing, “Not a fair question. By whose definition can you call what La Russa does ‘managing’?” Tough crowd.
Poll No. 3: What’s the most important thing at a baseball game?
Q3: What’s the most important thing at a baseball game?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) June 16, 2022
Upshot: If you believe these results, watching your team lose on a beautiful day beats watching your team win in crummy conditions. For some serious sports fans, that might be hard to wrap the ol’ noggin around. Others might wonder how anything could top scoring sweet seats on the cheap (relatively speaking, of course). As for those of us who sit in the press box, disconnected from it all? We’re totally clueless.
