Tag / Andy Masur

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Holy Cow!

In a shocking development, Len Kasper, who has been the television play-by-play voice of the Cubs for 16 years on numerous networks, has decided to leave that post to join the radio booth for the White Sox.  He will join the returning Darrin Jackson as the team moves back to ESPN 1000 for the 2021 season.  Kasper, who will turn 50 before Opening Day, has always been passionate about radio and has long desired the chance to call a World Series, something he would not get a chance to do on TV.

Chris Myers, the long time ESPN and FOX Sports announcer, seems to be the leading candidate to replace Kasper in the Cubs booth.  He was hired by Marquee last year to be the occasional fill-in for Kasper and a studio host, but the corona virus put the kibosh on those plans.  Left out in the cold is Andy Masur, the longtime WGN employee who stepped in to replace Ed Farmer last season after Farmer passed away last spring.

To say this was a surprise would be a bit of an understatement.  It’s been an off-season exodus for the Cubs, but, unlike Theo Epstein or Kyle Schwarber, this was one loss that I can honestly say nobody saw coming.  For the White Sox, it is a nice little coup to improve their radio product while stealing some thunder from their cross-town rivals.

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Everything Old Is New Again Again

As expected, the White Sox announced this morning that they will be moving their radio home back to ESPN 1000, which previously broadcast their games from 1999 – 2005.  The new agreement includes all regular season and postseason games, as well as select spring training contests, starting (hopefully) with the Cactus League opener against the Brewers optimistically planned for February 27, 2021.

The agreement also includes White Sox Weekly, a weekly wrap up show, plus pregame and postgame shows.  Strangely missing from the announcement was any word on the status of Andy Masur or Darrin Jackson, leaving open whether the duo would be retained.

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On The Move Again

Robert Feder reported yesterday that the flagship radio home of the White Sox will likely be changing next season.  While nothing is official, all signs are pointing to a deal with WMVP ESPN 1000, the team’s radio home from 1996 through 2005.

A station change may also lead to a shakeup in the booth.  Current play-by-play man Andy Masur, a WGN mainstay, is on a one year contract following the death of Ed Farmer.  Darrin Jackson, who has been in the radio booth since 2009 and part of the overall broadcast team for the Sox since 2000, is nearing 60.  With the White Sox poised to be contenders for the next several years, the new bosses at ESPN 1000 may want to refresh the presentation.

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Changes In The Radio Booth

Now that the start of the baseball season is set, WGN and the White Sox have announced that Andy Masur would replace Ed Farmer in the radio booth for the 2020 season.  Masur, who was the pre-game host and had filled in for Farmer last season and was planned to fill in again when Farmer stepped away in spring training before the sport shut down because of the corona virus pandemic, spent 8 years at WGN, starting in 1999, before leaving to become the voice of the Padres in 2007.  He returned to the station in 2014 and started working with the White Sox when they moved to WGN in 2018.  He will join the returning Darrin Jackson, who has been the color man in the booth since 2009.

Farmer, who had spent 28 years in the White Sox radio booth and was the main play-by-play man since 2006, passed away following a long illness on April 2nd.

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Filling In

The White Sox and WGN announced today that Ed Farmer, the long time radio voice of the team, would miss the remainder of the spring training slate due to illness.  Andy Masur will take over play-by-play duties, along side Darrin Jackson, until Farmer is able to return.

Farmer, who turned 70 in October, missed time last season with an undisclosed illness, and, at least according to this listener’s ears, did not sound well during the initial broadcasts of the spring.  While I wish Farmer nothing but good health moving forward, it would be best for the broadcast if Masur were to stay on full time.