The familiar voices of summer are returning for Chicago Cubs fans in 2025

Chicago Cubs baseball will be back on the air in 2025 and when it does, Pat Hughes will return to his post as the radio play-by-play voice of the Cubs.

Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times broke the news on Monday that Hughes, along with his radio partner, Ron Coomer, have inked new deals with the Cubs.

If we're being honest, the Cubs' radio call had a different feel to it at times during the 2024 season. While Hughes and Coomer were the primary call for the radio broadcast of Cubs' games on 670 The Score this year, there were extended times during the season when Hughes had time off. While there was nothing wrong with Hughes, it did open the door for Cubs fans wondering what life would look like for Hughes once he hung up his microphone for the final time. That fear was only heightened given the struggles Zach Zaidman had while filling in for Hughes this past season. If anything, Zaidman's frequent blunders were not only confirmation of how great Hughes is but how the Cubs should seek an external hire once the day arrives that the Hall of Famer retires.

Hughes was the recipient of the 2023 Ford C. Fricke Award and cemented his place in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. In reflecting on his career, Hughes shared insight that should remind Cubs' fans why summers are special.

My job is to get (Cubs radio analyst) Ron Coomer’s knowledge on the air every day. He played the game, I didn’t. He knows so much more about the game than I ever will. And there’s also the element of fun. Sometimes silly fun. A play on words…or a Ron Santo story that sparks a laugh or a moment that will make you giggle. Part of the fun, the terrifying part of broadcasting is that you have no idea what you are going to say. I find it equal parts terrifying and exhilarating.

There was a void left in the Cubs' radio booth after Ron Santo's sudden passing following the 2010 season. After Keith Moreland served as the radio analyst with Hughes for the first two years after Santo's passing, it seemed like the spark from the Cubs' radio booth had left. Moreland left the Cubs' radio booth after the 2013 season, and Coomer has been in his place ever since.

In the years since, the chemistry between Hughes and Coomer has been undeniable. The Cubs' radio call each season has become the voice of summer, and while baseball is at the forefront, it's the stories in between the innings that fans will always remember—memories that will continue to be built in the seasons ahead.