During one of their many breakfasts together, Blackhawks president of business operations Jaime Faulkner had a question for Pat Foley, who was in his 39th and final season broadcasting Hawks games.
Faulkner had met with Foley on and off since taking the job in December 2020. At first, she wanted them to get to know each other. But the conversation eventually turned to the future.
“Is there anything you haven’t done? What’s on your bucket list?” Faulkner asked.
Call a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, Foley replied.
‘‘It’s a dream of mine,’’ he said.
Faulkner made Foley’s wish her command. Next Tuesday, Foley will live out that dream when he calls the nightcap of the Cubs’ doubleheader against the Cardinals. He’ll work the first three innings on 670 The Score with Ron Coomer, move to Marquee Sports Network with Jim Deshaies for the middle three and finish the game on radio. He also will lead the seventh-inning stretch.
‘‘I’ll probably spend more hours getting ready for this broadcast than I have for any single broadcast in my career,’’ Foley said Tuesday. ‘‘I have not called a baseball game for more than 20 years. I am really excited to sit with Coomer and Deshaies.
‘‘In my little mediocre career, the one thing I’ve not done is broadcast a game in Wrigley Field. This is literally a fantasy for me. I’m pumped.’’
‘‘I knew he was a huge Cubs fan,’’ Faulkner said. ‘‘He goes to a lot of games. They love having him at Wrigley Field. When he’s there, the fans love it. [I said to him,] ‘Well, I happen to know a guy.’ ’’
Faulkner is married to Cubs executive vice president of sales and marketing Colin Faulkner, but she was referring to Marquee general manager Mike McCarthy. They worked together when he was the CEO of the Blues and COO of the Bucks, and they arranged for Foley to call a game.
Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes already was scheduled to be off that night. TV voice Jon Sciambi will move to the radio booth for the middle three innings. Foley is preparing for a straight-up baseball broadcast, not a tribute to his Hall of Fame career. He’ll be at Wrigley for the series against the Brewers this weekend to get acclimated.
Foley, 67, called several Cubs road games when former Cubs TV voice Chip Caray had national commitments. Marquee will air footage from Foley’s last baseball broadcast. But this will be his first at Wrigley, where the seed for his broadcasting career was planted.
When Foley was 10 years old, his father, Bob, had the chance to visit the Wrigley broadcast booth to promote his car dealership, which sponsored the Cubs on WGN radio. Announcer Jack Quinlan, who had bought a car from Bob, took a liking to Pat and allowed him to stay in the booth.
‘‘I remember between innings I was so enthralled, I would ask him a question when a commercial was playing, and he couldn’t have been more generous with me,’’ Foley said. ‘‘My mother said [that] when I came home, I said I know what I’m gonna do.’’
Foley also has called White Sox games. The first baseball game he was scheduled to call was at old Comiskey Park, but the weather didn’t cooperate.
‘‘I’m all pumped up and get down there, and it rains all afternoon and the game’s a rainout,’’ Foley said. ‘‘So all I did was introduce, ‘Here’s the 1962 World Series,’ every half-hour. ‘Yeah, it’s still raining. Here’s the 1984 All-Star Game.’ That was my major-league debut.’’
Though Foley won’t return to the Hawks’ booth, Faulkner said he will continue to work with organization in a role to be determined.
‘‘He’s still part of this family, and we want to continue with him,’’ Faulkner said. ‘‘Our sponsors, our partners, love him. Our fans love him. So it just makes sense to keep him involved.’’
