Bobby Keith Moreland (born May 2, 1954), nicknamed "Zonk", is a former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

and

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

who played for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. In 1989, the final year of his career, he played for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, then the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. On February 16, 2011, he was named the Cubs'

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

WGN-AM WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, with studios on the 18th floor of 303 East Wacker Drive in the Chicago Loop. WGN has a news/talk format, along with broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey and Northwest ...

and the Cubs Radio Network, replacing

Ron Santo Ronald Edward Santo (February 25, 1940 – December 3, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and the Chicago White Sox in 1974. In 1990, Santo became a member of the ...

. On November 6, 2013, he announced that he was stepping down from his position at WGN Radio to spend more time with his family.

Baseball career

Moreland graduated from

The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, and was drafted by the Phillies in the seventh round of the 1975 draft. He started out as a

, but the Phillies also played him at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. During his time with the Cubs, he was primarily used as a corner outfielder, except in his final year. In 1989, playing for American League teams, he also made 80 appearances as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...

. Moreland played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball. He helped the Cubs win the 1984 National League Eastern Division championship. His best year was in 1985 with the Cubs, when he batted .307 (14 HR, 106 RBI, 12 SB). He also had a good year in 1987, with 27 HR and 88 RBI. In 1988 as a member of the San Diego Padres, he was the last player to wear #6 before it was retired in honor of

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

. He is inducted in Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor. Position: Third Base Inducted: 1985 Hometown: Carrollton, Texas · Career .388 hitter with UT · Three-time All-American · Led UT to three NCAA College World Series berths · Co-captain of 56-6 national championship team in 1975 · Hit .410 over a 62-game schedule in 1975 Named to

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

All-Decade Team for the 1970s. Has second most career hits in College World Series history with 23 in 3 years (1973–75), behind only Sam Fuld of

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

. On May 1, 2010, Moreland's Longhorn number 3 was retired by The

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Broadcasting career

Moreland has worked as a

for the

radio broadcasts Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

Texas Longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadores from the t ...

football and baseball, as he is a former player for both teams. He has also worked as an occasional fill-in analyst for the Cubs telecasts on

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

WCIU-TV WCIU-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is the flagship television property of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister ...

, and

Comcast SportsNet Chicago NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...

when regular analyst

Bob Brenly Robert Earl Brenly (born February 25, 1954) is an American baseball sportscaster and a former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher with the San Francisco Gian ...

wasn't available. On February 16, 2011, it was announced that Moreland would be the Cubs' full-time radio color analyst on

and the Cubs Radio Network, replacing the late

. On November 6, 2013, he announced that he was stepping down from his position at WGN Radio to spend more time with his family. He is now announcing college football games for ASN.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreland, Keith 1954 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Dallas Chicago Cubs announcers Chicago Cubs players College baseball announcers in the United States Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball third basemen Oklahoma City 89ers players Peninsula Pilots players Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Phillies players San Diego Padres players Spartanburg Phillies players Texas Longhorns baseball players Texas Longhorns football players Texas Longhorns football announcers National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees All-American college baseball players Texas Longhorns baseball coaches