After three error-plagued seasons, the White Sox announced on Monday that they would not be extending the contract of embattled television play-by-play man John Schriffen. Schriffen, who first got the job in 2024 after Jason Benetti was allowed to leave the booth due to growing frustrations with the franchise, started with three strikes against him.
- He was coming in to replace a popular broadcaster many felt was treated unfairly by Jerry Reinsdorf and Brooks Boyer
- He was considerably less polished, let alone skilled, than the broadcaster he was replacing
- His first season coincided with the White Sox becoming the worst team in MLB history
That said, he certainly made numerous unforced errors along the way that did not help his case, including not knowing why White Sox fans would boo Tigers infielder (and former Cub) Javy Baez and mispronouncing Bill Veeck’s name during a pre-planned bit and subsequently refusing to quickly address it, making sure it turned into a thing. Both showed a lack of preparation that his over-the-top enthusiasm, especially for a team on its way to the most losses in MLB history. couldn’t cover. When good things did happen and he pulled out what I’m sure he thought would be his winning catch phrase, “South Side, stand up”, he didn’t have the skills to make it seem like it wasn’t a pre-planned saying that he had been waiting to cram in.
Along the way, he improved a little as he went on, but was always awkward, whether it was using the White Sox airway to fight with the local radio hosts he was too afraid to speak with directly, growling when using Luis Robert’s big cat-inspired nickname, or his absolutely bizarre tirade on behalf of Tommy Pham after the later was thrown out easily in a play at the plate against the Brewers in 2024. Even with the improvements, he still regularly confused left and right field and never seemed to bring any particular baseball knowledge or insight to the broadcast, which is strange considering he played the game at the collegiate level.
The writing was likely on the wall for Schriffen when, this past September 24, he chose to leave the booth for the night to call a UFC event rather than the game where the White Sox clinched a playoff spot. Hopefully the UFC keeps calling as I doubt he ever works regularly in MLB again.