Goss: Lockport grad Coomer anxious to take seat next to Hughes

We live in an era where everyone is a critic. It’s a challenge to find a person everyone likes and respects.

Pat Hughes, Cubs’ play-by-play voice on WGN Radio, is among the select few meeting the standard. When he called Lockport graduate Ron Coomer and said he would like him to work with him as the analyst in the booth, “Coom Dawg” was honored.

“It was great to hear that from Pat, and I threw my hat in the ring,” Coomer said. “A few weeks later (in mid-December), I was hired. Quite the Christmas present.”

Coomer, 47, enjoyed a nine-year major league playing career, including one season with the Cubs. He averaged 16 home runs and 80 RBI for a 162-game season and was an American League All-Star in 1999.

After retiring, he won three Emmys as an analyst and occasional color commentator for Fox Sports North covering the Minnesota Twins, his team from 1995 to 2000. He also has a sports talk show on KTWIN-FM in Minneapolis, the Twins’ flagship station.

It was a tough decision,” Coomer said. “I wasn’t looking for a job. I have enjoyed everything I am doing here (in Minneapolis). The only other job I would have even considered was this one. I thank Pat (Hughes) for bringing up my name to WGN and the Cubs.”

Coomer, whose mother lives in Morris and sister is in Wilmington, grew up a Cubs fans, listening to Hall of Famer Jack Brickhouse. He says Hughes is cut from the same cloth.

“Pat will be a Hall of Fame broadcaster,” Coomer said. “He is a Jack Brickhouse. I’ve known him for years. He’s just a really good person. It’s an honor for me to work with him. I think we’ll have a really good time.”

The Joliet area has produced several former professional athletes who have succeeded in electronic media.

There’s Terry Gannon, who has covered virtually every sport television has to offer. Tom Thayer is the outstanding analyst on Bears radio broadcasts. Mark Grant has a big following for his work on San Diego Padres’ television. Pete Bercich is to the Minnesota Vikings what Coomer has been to the Twins. Les Norman hosts a unique national radio show, “Breakin’ The Norm,” out of Kansas City.

Now, Coomer will join Thayer in working at home, on 162 Cubs’ broadcasts a season. He signed a two-year contract. He and his wife, Paula, will stay in downtown Chicago and maintain their Minneapolis home, at least for now.

“Paula has a good job in Minneapolis, although she can work from home a majority of the time,” Coomer said. “So this will work out.”

Coomer loves to have fun, and to give back. Recall the Wish Upon A Star Softball in the Snow benefits he attended, all the games he played in, and his comedic yet dedicated work as emcee of the live auctions. He is anxious to return to Lockport in the spring, when the Porters honor the 1984 baseball team that finished 32-5 and went to state.

He believes while baseball is serious business, you should have fun with it. He plans to help make Cubs’ broadcasts enjoyable regardless of the team’s success level.

“I’ve started to do my homework on the Cubs,” Coomer said. “I’ll spend most of spring training with them in Arizona. I’ve known Randy Bush, the assistant GM, for a long time. I’ll do my best to get a good handle on the team.”

Coomer is entering a new arena. He has done some work during games, but never every game during a season.

“The bottom line is you have to be honest — good, bad or indifferent,” he said. “Tell the truth, but at the same time, baseball is not an easy game to play. If a guy is banged up, that may be affecting how he is playing, and everyone needs to know that.”

Coomer has an ex-player’s feel for what is appropriate and what is not, and for making a broadcast fun.

Cubs fans will be the beneficiaries.