Jon “Boog” Sciambi is the Cubs’ newest play-by-play announcer, Marquee Sports Network announced Monday.
Both Marquee general manager Mike McCarthy and senior vice president of programming and production Mike Santini said the opening left by Len Kasper's departure last month drummed up plenty of interest.
"In the end, we found the guy that we had targeted all along that we felt was a great fit," Santini said of Sciambi. " His knowledge of the game the teams and the players is second to none. But he has fun he's entertaining he's going to get along great with J.D. (Cubs analyst Jim DeShaies)."
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Sciambi has become a familiar figure on the national baseball scene, as the voice of Sunday Night Baseball for MLB on ESPN Radio and regular play-by-play voice on ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball.
Even with the new gig, Sciambi will continue to serve as multi-platform broadcaster for ESPN. But he said his Cubs play-by-play duties will take precedence when setting his schedule. According to McCarthy, Sciambi will call the "lion's share" of games (somewhere around 130 in a full season), with a schedule similar to Kasper's in recent years.
In Schiambi's role at ESPN, where he had worked fulltime since 2010, he has provided play-by-play for the College and Little League World Series. On the MLB side, has been an on-site studio host for ESPN Radio’s MLB World Series coverage.
Sciambi has even shared the booth with Cubs manager David Ross, then an ESPN baseball analyst. Earlier this summer, Sciambi told the story of a prank he and Rick Sutcliffe played on Ross after a bathroom break that extended past the commercial break. Sciambi recounted the scene – Sutcliffe jokingly putting Ross on the spot as he snuck back into the booth – for Cubs’ Ian Happ, Dakota Mekkes and Zack Short (since traded to the Tigers) on their podcast, The Compound.
Asked Monday why he's making the switch from national broadcasting to local, Sciambi said, "I want to be where baseball matters, and baseball matters on the North side of Chicago."
Sciambi’s play-by-play experience extends back to 1997-2004, when he was the radio voice of the Marlins, and 2007-2009, when he was the Braves play-by-play television announcer.
Sciambi replaces Kasper, who after 16 season of Cubs play-by-play left last month to join the White Sox radio booth. The two are longtime friends, after overlapping in Miami.
"I'm pretty humbled," Sciambi said. "And I don't take it lightly, the position I've been put in, because I know how much this team, this job, means to the fans, and you (reporters). So, I'm thrilled to get this opportunity."