Cubs TV voice Jon Sciambi brings passion for radio to his first national World Series call

In 1979, CBS Radio made Vin Scully its play-by-play voice for the World Series, ending a tradition that had the participating teams’ local announcers sharing the call.

Since then, only Jack Buck, Jon Miller and Dan Shulman have called the Fall Classic on radio. But when the Diamondbacks-Rangers series begins Friday night, Jon “Boog” Sciambi will join them.

“In that regard, I feel like I tricked my way past the bouncer, you know what I mean?” Sciambi said. “It feels silly to be in that grouping with those guys.”

But it’s true, nonetheless. Sciambi, the Cubs’ lead voice on Marquee Sports Network, will be joined in the ESPN Radio booth by analysts Jessica Mendoza and Eduardo Perez and on the field by reporter Buster Olney. All game broadcasts are scheduled for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN 1000.

Sciambi has been waiting in the wings for a while. He became ESPN Radio’s MLB play-by-play voice in 2010. Shulman took over for Miller on the World Series in 2011 and continued calling it even after leaving ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” TV booth in 2017.

As the TV voice of the Blue Jays, Shulman can call the team’s games through the postseason because Canada’s Sportsnet has the rights to the broadcasts. Shulman grew up a Jays fan in Toronto and dreams of calling their next World Series team for a Canadian audience. So he passed the baton to Sciambi.

“I’m not thinking about trying to put my stamp on it,” Sciambi said Wednesday from his downtown home during a 24-hour stop after the National League Championship Series. “I really just come at it authentically. Seven-year-old me is excited. I’m getting to call the World Series, and I trust my judgment in the moment that I’ll react to say the right thing.”

Though video is king – even podcasts and radio shows have migrated to YouTube – Sciambi is passionate about radio. He has great respect for the mechanics of the job, such as pacing and speaking efficiently.

“When it’s right, it feels like you’re conducting an orchestra,” he said.

In 1998, Sciambi sought advice from Miller, who was calling “SNB” and beginning his run on the World Series. Miller graciously listened to a tape of Sciambi and offered this: Let the audience know the pitch is coming sooner than you think you should.

Miller explained, if you say “Here’s the pitch” while the pitch is thrown, the ball moves so fast that you’ll talk over the sound of the crack of the bat or the pop of the catcher’s glove. But if you say it earlier, Miller said, you’ll be using the sound of the game as part of the broadcast.

“You want it to sound like, ‘Here’s the pitch [clap], swing and a ground ball to short,” said Sciambi, clapping his hands to mimic the ball hitting the bat. “You want that space; you want the crack of the bat. You want the space so you can hear the sound. That’s the type of stuff I love so much.”

Sciambi brings great detail to his call. He gives cues that might be obvious but paint a mental picture for listeners. If Mike Trout steps into the batter’s box, Sciambi will call him a “stocky right-handed hitter.” Fans know Trout bats right-handed, but hearing the words make them think about it.

“Even the most routine ground ball, the guy’s still gonna move a tiny bit,” Sciambi said. “So the type of stuff you can do is, ‘Swing and a ground ball right side, there’s [Ketel] Marte, one step to his left, reaches down, gathers it in and over to first for the first out.’ Making him move to his left one step.

“It’s so different from television in terms of what I think my job is supposed to be.”

What won’t be different will be working in a three-person booth, which Sciambi did at times on Marquee. In the pitch-clock era, that can be enough of a challenge on TV. It figures to be a bigger one on radio, but Sciambi has worked with Mendoza and Perez enough that it should be fine.

This won’t be Sciambi’s first World Series on the mic. He was part of the Marlins’ radio booth in 2003, calling three innings each game alongside Dave Van Horne. Sciambi got extra innings in Game 4 and had the good fortune to call Alex Gonzalez’s walk-off home run in the 12th inning to tie the series 2-2.

But he won’t mention that postseason with Cubs fans. After three seasons on Marquee, Sciambi feels he and analyst Jim Deshaies have connected with the fans. And by the sound of it, Sciambi figures to be here a long time.

“I love it,” he said. “I’ve never enjoyed working with someone as much as I enjoy working with JD. Every day, I get to hang out with a friend. He’s smart, he’s still curious. It’s something that’s grown and gotten better, and I think we have the best fan base there is. As good as I thought this would be, it’s been even better.”

After the World Series, Sciambi will turn his attention to college basketball for ESPN. His first games will be in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament Nov. 22-24 in the Bahamas.