Tag / Jason Benetti

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The Wrong Kind Of History

After staving off their ignoble date with history for the final homestand of the season, the White Sox met their date with history on Friday night, losing 4-1 to the Tigers to notch their 121st loss of the season, a total unmatched in modern MLB history.  Owner Jerry Reinsdorf had his fingerprints all over this one, on both sides of the field.  The Tigers, managed by A.J. Hinch, who was then-GM Rick Hahn’s leading choice to manage the White Sox before Reinsdorf insisted on hiring Tony LaRussa for a second go-around, and announced by Jason Benetti, who Reinsdorf and henchman Brooks Boyer drove away from the White Sox booth this past off-season, clinched a playoff berth while handing the White Sox their record-breaking loss.

Last fall, when Reinsdorf promoted Chris Getz to General Manager after firing Hahn and Kenny Williams, he said, “One of the things that I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better.”  He later added, “I realized that if I brought someone in from the outside it’s going to take them a year. He’s going to have to evaluate everyone in the organization.”  Well, both Reinsdorf and Getz now own this year.  The most losses in the 124 years of modern baseball history and second of all-time to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.  In the conversation for the worst team of all time.  And outside of a handful of promising pitching prospects, most of whom have already debuted and contributed to this season’s history-making finish, very little help on the way from the minor league system.  Speaking as a fan, I would have gladly traded that year for competence.  Something that is sorely lacking on the corner of 35th and Shields.

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A New Voice

On Thursday, the White Sox announced that John Schriffen, a 39-year-old from New York, had signed a multi-year deal to become the team’s new television play-by-play announcer.  He replaces Jason Benetti, who, due to growing frustrations with the White Sox front office, left in November to fill the same role with the Tigers after seven years in the White Sox booth.  Schriffen, who is biracial, becomes the second Black television play-by-play announcer in MLB, joining Dave Sims of the Mariners.

This will mark Schriffen’s first play-by-play assignment for a team, he has broadcast Korean baseball for ESPN during the pandemic and has done some MLB work for ESPN Radio.  His other work at ESPN includes college basketball, college football, college baseball, the XFL, NBA preseason, G-League and Summer League.  After multiple interviews, he met with team owner Jerry Reinsdorf and color analyst Steve Stone this past weekend in Arizona for a final audition.  “We hit it off immediately,” Schriffen said. “Everybody knows Steve Stone is the greatest. He has done everything in baseball broadcasting – the dude is a legend.”

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You’ve Gotta Be Bleepin’ Me

Just when you think things can’t get any worse in White Sox Nation, the Tigers announced yesterday that they were poaching play-by-play man Jason Benetti, signing the announcer to a multi-year deal.  Benetti, 40, started with the White Sox in 2016, splitting time with Ken Harrelson until 2019 when he took over full time.

Benetti’s frustration with the White Sox organization has seemingly been growing for some time.  In 2021, he was a loud voice in favor of returning to broadcasting from the road instead of in studio following the pandemic shutdowns of 2020.  Things got testy again this past offseason, when he left ESPN for FOX and took on more national responsibilities, which irked some in the White Sox front office.  To add fuel to that fire, the White Sox refused to negotiate with Benetti’s agent, preferring instead to deal directly with Benetti, which is, frankly, odd behavior.

Whoever replaces Benetti in the broadcast booth will have very large shoes to fill.  They will also need to win over a fan base that has been repeatedly poked in the eye by the ownership and front office of their favorite team for the last two years.

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#SoxMath

For the uninitiated, Sox Math is a segment during every White Sox game broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago, where two or more trivia questions are linked together via a simple math equation to form a final numerical answer. Fans watching at home tweet in their answers and the first one in with the right answer is dubbed the winner.  Sunday, that winner was me.
Back in the before times, there was a prize shelf filled with random objects that announces Jason Benetti and Steve Stone had come across along with extra stadium giveaways.  Starting in 2020, thanks to the pandemic, they switched it up to letting the winner create a video that would introduce the segment on the next game.  Yes, that means I got to create the intro video for last night’s game.

My initial thought was to utilize my bobblehead, surrounded by White Sox bobbleheads, with me talking offscreen, but I thought that might end up being too static.  So instead, I started moving all (well, most) of the mess off of my desk and replacing it with different White Sox paraphernalia, including bobbleheads, pennants, a towel, a Chris Sale K placard, and some Robin Ventura print sent to season ticket holders.  After a few practice shots to get the camera set up correctly, I hit record and, after three takes, felt I had gotten what I needed to get.  Some quick trimming to get just the last take down to the correct length, and off it went.

As we approached the top of the 4th inning, when the segment usually airs, I started to get nervous.  I mean, there was a non-zero chance that I was about to make a fool out of myself on regional cable television.  But, it aired without incident, aside from my mother sleeping through it.  I managed a gain a few new Twitter followers, the video seemed to be a big hit on Facebook, and a co-worker happened to see it and passed a video around to some folks in the virtual office.

As for the original question itself, an educated guess led me to victory.  I assumed there was nothing noteworthy about Julio Franco and Robin Ventura going back-to-back once and, had they done it three times, that would be rare enough that I would know about it, so two seemed like the safe choice.  The second question was much easier, as Ventura wore #23 and Franco #14.

Now, I just need to win again.  I’ve got some more video ideas.

 

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You Can Put Him In The Hall, Yes!

Former White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, who retired following the 2018 season, was awarded the 2020 Ford C. Frick Award yesterday, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.  Harrelson spent 33 of his 42 seasons as a broadcaster for the White Sox, starting in 1982, with a brief interruption caused by his inadvised turn as the teams General Manager in 1986.  He returned to the broadcast booth in 1989, where he stayed until retiring last fall.

Harrelson’s broadcasting career began in 1975, following the end of his playing career and a short foray into professional golf.  He, along with Don Drysdale, joined the White Sox booth in 1982, replacing Harry Caray, who had clashed with the team’s new ownership group.  He returned to the south side in 1989, alongside former Sox player Tom Paciorek. In 2000, he was joined in the booth by another former White Sox outfielder, Darrin Jackson.  2009 saw his final broadcast partner, Steve Stone, join the team.  A five-time Emmy Award winner, Harrelson’s trademark calls of “You can put it on the board…Yes!” and “Mercy!” became the nightly soundtrack for multiple generations of White Sox fans, including a young Jason Benetti, who would grow up to replace him with the White Sox.

Harrelson, 78, is the fifth announcer with ties to Chicago to earn the honor, following Milo Hamilton, Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse, and Bob Elson.  Two other finalists for next year’s award also have strong ties to the city: current Cub radio announcer Pat Hughes and former Cub announcer Dewayne Staats.

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He Gone

On Wednesday, the White Sox announced that broadcaster Ken Harrelson, who cut back to working road trips only in 2016, would return in 2018 for a final season, with a schedule of primarily Sunday home games.  Jason Benetti, who had been working home games for the last year and a half, signed a multi-year extension to become the full time play by play voice for the team.

Harrelson, who first joined the White Sox booth in 1982, has had numerous health problems in recent years, including vision problems that caused him to miss time in 2015.  Those problems have caused the occasional gaffe, as he mostly relies on a monitor to see the action on the field.  While I’m glad he gets to leave on his own terms, it is clear that the time to pass the torch is here.  Benetti, who grew up a White Sox fan, has proven to be a worthy successor.

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He (Nearly) Gone

Ken-HarrelsonBack in October, the White Sox announced that Ken Harrelson, the play by play man for White Sox television broadcasts since 1990, will be cutting back his role this year, working road games, the home opener, and the Cubs series.  The 74 year old Harrelson, who has a 100 mile commute each way from his home in Indiana to US Cellular Field, had hinted at reducing his schedule prior to last season, but changed his mind after the team’s off-season moves offered the promise of an exciting summer.

Yesterday, the White Sox made the move official and announced the hiring of Jason Benetti, a 32-year old Homewood native who cut his professional broadcasting teeth with the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple A affiliate of the Nationals.  Benetti becomes the first actual broadcaster hired by the White Sox since John Rooney in 1988.  The White Sox also announced that Harrelson and Steve Stone have signed multi-year extensions, settling the television booth for years to come.

I’ve never heard Benetti’s work (he also does college basketball on ESPN), but am looking forward to a younger and competent voice joining the broadcast booth.  An improved team and an improved broadcast booth should lead to an enjoyable summer.