MESA, Ariz. – Former Chicago Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly said he was planning to return to the team’s broadcast booth last year until a snag in negotiations led to his new job with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The D’backs quickly signed Brenly to a five-year deal after the Cubs’ deal fell through.


“It was unbelievably tough to leave,” Brenly said Saturday during a visit to Cubs camp, where his son, Michael is a non-roster invitee. “Long story short, we thought we had a deal done, and actually went out and celebrated with my family and ran up a pretty good tab at Joe’s (Stone Crabs).

“Woke up the next morning and there were some issues with the contract. One thing led to another and that kind of opened up negotiations with the Diamondbacks and it rolled downhill quickly. The Diamondbacks were willing to give me the years and the money that WGN and Comcast (Sports Net) could just not guarantee. Not a bad Plan B.”

The Cubs could not guaranteed Brenly more than two years because they plan to open up bidding rights to games next year. The contract with their longtime home, WGN-TV expires after 2014, and the Cubs figure to cash in after the Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable on a deal expected to be worth $7 billion to $8 billion over 25 years.

“There were some last-minute technical issues, a lot of financial maneuvering going on with the Tribune Co. and WGN,’ he said. “And their contract expires after next season with the Cubs. And with the money that’s there for the TV rights now, there was no guarantee who was going to get the contract.

“I certainly understand their position. They certainly did not want to guarantee me a contract when they might not even be carrying the games. It was just one of those things that happen in the game of baseball. It happens in broadcasting. It happens in just about every livelihood. But, like I said, a real good plan B.”

Brenly, who managed the D’backs to then 2001 championship, said he’s no longer thinking about the possibility of getting back in the manager’s seat down the road. He took himself out of consideration for the job that eventually went to Mike Quade in 2011.

“I think that boat has sailed,” Brenly said. “There’s always a chance that some of the older people in the game may recall what we did back here in ’01 in Arizona, but I’m content. I like my job. Working with Len (Kasper) for eight years was as good as it gets. Going to Wrigley and traveling with the club… I’m breaking in a new partner this year in Steve Berthiaume, who just has a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for the game.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to get back in the booth. I think the Diamondbacks are going to have a really good team this year, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The Cubs later signed Astros analyst Jim Deshaies to a four-year deal to replace Brenly in the booth.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Something fishy here. The new guy gets 4 years? I think the Cubs gave him 2 years on TV and two on radio if they get a new TV deal.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Gee Bob, sorry they couldnt "guarantee" you any more than 2 years. I just hate seeing multi millionaires pounding the pavement looking for a job. Fuck off, hope you get bit by a fucking snake .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Or the last two years of his gig are not guaranteed.

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I don't blame him one damn bit. He was the best thing about Cubs broadcasts.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Doesn't he live in Arizona?

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Thats fine then if thats his reason, he should come out and say so. Not cloak in in some fucking bullshit about " having security" .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I could read that article fifteen times and would never come to the conclusion that Brenly is shitting on the working man.

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He must not have liked the part of the contract that banned him from being critical and honest about the team.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

I am sure the Cubs needed an out after 2 years, because they will be putting the rights up for bid and with that, if someone wants to give them $100 mill and have Rick Sutcliffe and MArk grace do the game (Best drinky guys in the game), then they want out of Brenlys deal.

1. Brenly must have spoken to Az in detail before that, to make that deal go so quick.
2. He would have been OK with either
3. I am sure DeShais has an out after 2 years as well.

BUT...if Brenly and Kasper had strengthened that Brand even more over the years, they could have been looking at a big payday as well...with a new broadcast deal.

I mean what kind of owner would take an amazingly popular broadcasting team and fire them???? Nobody would ever do that......

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

This.

The obvious decision is to take the job that puts your family in the best position. No brainer.

Sure, but he doesnt need to act like he's some poor schlub who is pounding the pavement looking for work because his company may be out of business in a couple years and he just doesnt know where he would would go or what he would do. He's a multi millionaire who will continue to earn a fantastic living no matter where he winds up or how many times he has to go looking for work because the team wont extend him possibly. Welcome to the real world Bob.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

BernSTINE must have called up BoBo and reminded him that Kerry Wood has that "personal services" contract in the drawer over there, so once he's done being semi-pro mascot in spring training he might want to start to descend into his future gig as MR. CUB / color-analyst-cheerleader that Ron Santo picked up from Dick Butkus and ran with until he was a beloved figure whose death impacted enough people to get the limo to do a few laps around wrigley so everyone could get in on the photo ops.

My first thought would be that Brenly isn't seen as a "Cubs guy" but didn't he already broadcast with the team on teh radio side in the 80s or something? Whatever the case, he certainly isn't the type of guy to be a cubbie-blue-bleeding cheerleader emoting alongside the audience in such a way that he'd ascend to the ultimate levels of cubdom, so I think that must have factored into the whole new-deal-in-2yrs/keeping-the-options-open thing where he perceived it as a slight to him and his quality work with the team for the last however-many-years, so if arizona guaranteed him more years and he saw that the Cubs BRAND is to feature a beloved ex-player emoting with the fanbase (not to mention Brenly dates back to the Trib days so he wasn't necessarily the top choice of the creepshow Ricketts clan as much as he was a quality holdover) welp then bye-bye-bren-dog and be sure to say hi to mike murphy out in san francisco for me next time you're out there playing HOT HATCH NL WEST DIVISIONAL BASEBALL.

so hey, whatever the case, i can tell you that while i tend to multitask whilst watching baseball and not pay too much mind to the TV announcers, i'll actually miss the guy cuz he did some good work. BOB BRENLY, WE SPEAK YOUR NAME. enjoy watching the entriety of the magnanimous career of didi gregorious down there in snakeville.

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He was in a three-man booth with Thom Brennaman and Ron Santo for a year in like '90 or '91, and then disappeared to do whatever he did before popping up with the Diamondbacks.

And no, while we did come to embrace Bob at the end, it had more to do with him being the guy who called out the team's bad play than anything on any deeper Cubs level. There wasn't anything intrinsically Brenlian that made him a well-liked figure (at least not in my world; I gotta be honest and say the whole Len & Bob's Dad-Rock Revue thing never really grabbed me). Anyone who drew attention to Soriano dogging it and called the Quade Cubs a "dead-ass team" would've gotten kudos. I mean, people barely tolerated Brenly during his first three years on the job, when all he did was give management-friendly analysis in the wake of the Steve Stone shitstorm and then say the Cubs should maybe try to lay down a bunt here.

Meanwhile, whatever constitutes a local fanbase in Phoenix loves him for babysitting the '01 team, so yeah, probably a good long-term career move.

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Ahh yes, I had forgotten about "deadassteamgate" and all of the relative OMFG that comes from having the audacity to speak ill of "cubbie nation" or whatever term you wanna use to sum up the whole "cub thing." When I was younger I was more of a Steve Stone ALS/mark, so even thought I'm not a Cubs fan I was unable to forgive Dusty Baker for running Steve Stone out of town, even though getting rid of captain "SWUNG ON BELTED" was awfully nice. Nowadays I don't especially go out of my way to listen to Stone on Sox broadcasts; but at the time the whole concept of Dusty calling "WAAAHHH STEVE HURT MY FEELINGS" meetings on gameday mornings when the team was still in the race with a huge game against the Braves coming up that afternoon truly offended my baseball sensibilities. The 2004 Cubs were easily the most loathsome baseball team I've seen in my ~12 years of seriously following baseball; c'est la vie.

Who knows what the creepshow Ricketts clan wants to do with the team's announcer-based-PR? I wouldn't be surprised to see them try and go in a direction where Santo is the golden standard of "color commentary" cuz their whole schtick seems to be OMFG WE'RE FANS JUST LIKE YOU, so I reckon in their world there'd be a desire to have a Twilight-Zone-esque "think happy thoughts" edict in place. they probably have a desire to sell the "Friendly Confines" as a giant package of on-field-product, in-person-experience, and of course broadcast-driven-PR, like the whole organ-I-zation is some sort of big happy family where, hey, you don't "break bad" on family members who had a bad day now do you?

/me shudders thinking about the annual opening-day/ish segments on CSN/WGN where they have all of those creepy Rickettses lined up sitting next to each other answering questions b4 doing individual interviews so everyone can give their own unique vision as to the future of the Cubs. ds;a'fgoeadnoasndposaDC

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I agree w/ this 97%. I just never hated Chip. @ "captain 'SWUNG ON BELTED'".

whom...

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

I hate this shift towards being a smart fan and demanding X's & O's in the broadcast. I liked Pat & Ron b/c it was a nice listen. Pat calls a great game and there was a great chemistry between him and Ron. Their connection made listening to awful Cubs baseball pretty enjoyable. Len & Bob were on track towards developing the same chemistry which was nice to listen to. Keith Moreland sucks.

I think we all know the guy is already playing with house money.

I dont think he is amazingly wealthy, but I have to guess he has more than enough to never work again and live a great life and plenty left over to pass that on to his son who will need it one day.

But, with that said, you take the 2 years...because that is all I see his son has left as a "prospect" and then, when they new deal for Cubs game is signed, you go back to the table looking for MUCH MUCH more.

Or, odds are his kid is no longer in the system then and he takes off.

Kinda feels a little weak by Brenly.

I think he missed a chance to gamble for a REALLY big deal in 2 years.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Gotta think brenley is well off...manager of dbacks. For a bit,cubs games,national games in post season.

Hughes is great.
Len sucks.
Santos sucked.
Moreland sucks.

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Hughes to me always sounded like a guy imitating Vin Scully.
Len is OK,Not terrible,not great...kind of vanilla.
Santo was fine when he did talk baseball,but instead they wanted "Clown Santo" on those broadcasts.
I can't say much about Keith except he was a pretty decent utility type player: Catcher,3rd and RF.
I have not heard WGN radio that much recently.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Pat Hughes doesn't sound anything like Vin Scully. If anything, he takes his cues from Uecker. You don't know what you're talking about.

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While I assume Uecker and Scully know the league the history, Hughes also has an amazing REAL memory of games he watched, that he might not have even broadcast. When he carried Ronnnies absent minded thoughts for all those years, was really impressive...finishing thoughts of random events. Of course he could just say "The best I ever saw at>>>>>"

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Always remember, "this is the best job in baseball"...that everyone who holds it happily walks away from

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

If you can't hear the same type of "sing-songey" inflection in both of their voices (same deal with Uecker) than you must be deaf.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Then every baseball announcer other than Joe Buck is ripping off Scully. If you want a modern-day Scully clone, Jon Miller is a good one.

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I've listened to Scully. He actually gives me a headache. I much prefer a Len Kasper who just talks in his natural voice. My all-time favorite guy is Vince Lloyd.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Seems the opposite is true

Stone was far from gay. when he left and Brenly was celebrating when he thought he would stay.

Buck Scully and Hughes are all great

I see what you did but they both seemed just fine to be gone.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.