Chicago's favorite broadcast booths

We recently lamented the loss of Blackhawks color commentator Eddie Olczyk, who left for the Seattle Kraken.

• We surveyed the state of our local broadcast booths, on both TV and the radio, and asked for your all-time favorites.

Scott Simon (NPR host and Axios Chicago reader): "The best ever? My late godfather, Jack Brickhouse. Period. 'Back, back, back, hey-hey!'"

• "I told Uncle Jack years ago that a woman in NYC had told me that she could tell if a man grew up watching Cubs broadcasts if, at his highest moment of romantic fruition, he shouted, 'Hey-hey!'"
• "He thought it was the greatest ratification of his life's work. We had a drink, what turned out to be about a week before he died. He hugged me, as he always did, brought his lips close and whispered, as if it was the naughtiest thing in the world, 'You keep saying hey-hey, kid!'"

Mario G.: "Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall were the best. Honest and real. Cubs fans conveniently forget Harry started the 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' seventh-inning stretch tradition in this city on the South Side."

Fritz L.: "Pat Hughes saying 'trousers' = a hot summer afternoon."

Jerry L.: "As a Cubs fan it's sad to say the Sox far outclass us. But I do think Pat Hughes is the best in the business. He pairs well with [Ron] Coomer. Their program is not hip, but radio affords some nostalgia."

• Jerry C. agrees: "Pat Hughes and Cooms. The best in Chicago."
• Janet H. too: "Nothing better than to be able to laugh and cry within the same inning of a Cubs baseball game!"

Phil P.: "Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall for the Sox. ('You can’t beat fun at the old ballpark. Give that man a Falstaff!')"

• "Lloyd Pettit for the Blackhawks. ('There’s a shot and a goal!')"
• "I also liked when Jack Brickhouse called Bears and Bulls games because he was such a homer."

S.K.: "Definitely Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies. Loved those guys."

Tom M.: "I evaluate broadcasters based on whether I learn anything about the game from them. Len Kasper and Bob Brenly were the best pair."

• Mike C. seconds that: "Kasper and Bob Brenly were great for the Cubs from '05–'12."

Barbara M.: "There’s no sports team I enjoy listening to more than D.J. and Len in the White Sox radio booth. They have really meshed their second year. D.J. is so quietly funny. And he knows so much baseball. He never gets the love he deserves."

Jack D.: "Stacey King and Neil Funk were the best duo (no disrespect to Adam Amin) — but hearing those guys call games during the Derrick Rose era was special."

Jim D.: "We just lost Chicago's best-ever broadcast team: Pat and Eddie. Our teams might scuffle, but our broadcasters are champs."

• Christian L. concurs: "Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk will never be topped (and I hold Harry Caray and Steve Stone in high regard, but they just don't match Pat and Edzo). It'll never be the same listening to whoever is calling the future Hawks games."