Jon “Boog” Sciambi is the new lead TV play-by-play voice of Chicago Cubs baseball, Marquee Sports Network said Monday.
Recognized as one of the best announcers in the game and an ESPN TV and radio mainstay, Sciambi succeeds Len Kasper, who was let out of his Marquee contract after 16 seasons to become radio announcer for the crosstown Chicago White Sox.
It was not immediately clear how many games a year Sciambi will work alongside analyst Jim Deshaies for Marquee, the joint TV venture the Cubs launched last season with Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Sciambi will continue to work for ESPN, where his role has included play-by-play on ESPN Radio’s “Sunday Night Baseball” and the TV network’s Wednesday night Major League Baseball telecasts.
An ESPN spokesman said Sciambi will have fewer MLB weeknight telecasts because of his Cubs deal, but his MLB work on ESPN Radio and college basketball duties will remain more or less the same. Sciambi has worked for ESPN since 2005 and became full-time with the media giant in 2010.
“Having the opportunity to come to Wrigley Field and call games for the Chicago Cubs every day is surreal,” Sciambi said in Marquee’s announcement. “It really doesn’t get better than that.”
Sciambi previously was the Atlanta Braves’ lead play-by-play announcer from 2007-9 and the radio voice of the Florida Marlins 1997-2004.
Coincidentally, Kasper was the Marlins’ TV announcer from 2002-04 before coming to the Cubs.
“We are excited to welcome Boog to the Marquee Network and the Cubs organization,” said Crane Kenney, the Cubs’ president of business operations, in a statement. “We’re confident he’ll add to the incredible legacy of Cubs broadcasters and quickly become a trusted friend to our amazing fans.”
Said Marquee General Manager Mike McCarthy in the network’s release: “No one is more deserving of the seat than Jon.”
With his blend of humor, knowledge and insight, Sciambi is almost universally liked by fans — among a precious few well-known or so-called name national announcers not to polarize the audience. He now joins a long line of well-regarded Cubs TV announcers that includes Jack Brickhouse and Harry Caray.
“We are very fortunate to have him,” said Marquee Senior Vice President of Programming and Production Mike Santini in the announcement.
Among some baseball cognoscenti there was surprise when ESPN didn’t make Sciambi the TV voice of “Sunday Night Baseball” after Dan Schulman wrapped up eight season in the job in 2017.
The position instead went to Matt Vasgersian, whom the Cubs were unable to pry away from the San Diego Padres before Kasper was hired ahead of the 2005 season. Sciambi called those games on radio since ‘10, working with former White Sox analyst Chris Singleton since ‘11.
Marquee’s announcement did not say who will fill in when Sciambi is taking time off or working for ESPN, but it did list Fox’s Chris Myers among the channel’s “impressive lineup.”
Myers was lined up as an occasional backup for Kasper last season before the schedule was upended by COVID-19. The Cubs and Marquee shot down reports last month Myers was a leading candidate to succeed Kasper, which had been met with with social media resistance.
Few at the time would have guessed they would be able to lure Sciambi from ESPN, despite a wave of cutbacks across parent Walt Disney Co., that might make it a lesser workload amenable for one of its stars.
A local announcer splitting time with ESPN is not unusual. For example, Jason Benetti, the voice of the White Sox on NBC Sports Chicago, has a multiyear deal with ESPN to announce college football and basketball.
Sciambi, 50, was born in Philadelphia and raised in New York. He is a graduate of New York’s famed Regis High School and Boston College. For a time, he was also a sports radio talk show host.
He is said to owe his nickname “Boog” to a physical resemblance to former ballplayer John “Boog” Powell, the 1970 American League most valuable player with the Baltimore Orioles.
