Chicago Cubs: Getting to know Tennessee Smokies broadcaster Mick Gillispie

Chicago Cubs: A baseball fan or a Cubs fan in the booth?

In an interview legendary broadcaster Vin Scully did with NPR, he referenced how he was a lifelong Giants fan broadcasting Dodgers games. After all, the men and women in the booth are only human and are subject to their own fandoms and biases, right?

So where does Gillispie fall on this matter?

"I was an Orioles fan when my family moved to Hightstown, NJ from Baltimore in the late 80s. Back then there was no way access to the O’s radio or TV feed outside of the market. We got the Yankees, Mets and Phillies but I never felt an attachment for those clubs."

Then, as has been the case with so many before him, a WGN broadcast of the North Siders caught his attention and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Then one day I turned on WGN and saw the Cubs with Harry Caray and Steve Stone calling the game. I was instantly a Cubs fan. Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Shawn Dunston and Greg Maddox… From that point on the Cubs were my team. However, like Vin I’d be okay working for any of the MLB teams if the opportunity was right because the game is incredible. It’s also a profession and you have to go where there is an opportunity."

Drawing from Mick’s experience of feeling drawn to a team is something I related too well in my fandom for the Cubs. My grandparents were big Chicago Cubs fans during my childhood, of course, as well as my dad, who lived in Forest Park. My parents put together a time capsule with tons of Cubs memorabilia and I always carried a part of that in my heart as I grew up.