The Chicago White Sox have plenty of holes on the field to fill in 2024.
Now they have another one in the TV broadcast booth.
Jason Benetti, who replaced Ken “Hawk” Harrelson as the TV voice of the Sox on NBC Sports Chicago eight years ago, left for the Detroit Tigers to do a minimum of 127 games on Bally Sports.
“I’m incredibly proud to join this historic and ascending Tigers franchise,” Benetti said in a statement. “From every single person I talked with throughout the interview process it was clear why so many respected professionals and creative people have joined the organization in the last several years. There’s something special about it, and I’m excited to bring that energy to Tigers fans around the globe.”
Benetti, 40, who grew up a Sox fan in Homewood and attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School, said after interviewing with the Tigers it was “clear this was the right place” for him.
“I was born and raised in the Midwest and understand how important sports are, especially here in the Motor City,” he said.
The news was bittersweet for Sox fans who’ve enjoyed the unique relationship between Benetti and longtime color man Steve Stone, which is equal parts entertainment and play-by-play. Doing Sox games was his dream job going back to his grade-school days in Homewood.
“I would like to be the White Sox sportscaster,” he once wrote in a classroom assignment. “As long as I don’t look like Harry Caray.”
It seemed like a pipe dream at the time. Having cerebral palsy was supposed to be an obstacle, but Benetti honed his craft at Syracuse and as a minor-league baseball announcer before moving to the Sox. After a stint with ESPN, he moved to Fox last year and has been one of the nation’s top sportscasters in college football and basketball.
“I love learning from coaches and watching practices and seeing the leadership,” he told the Tribune in 2020. “There’s a lot of life lessons in that, too, and I grew up loving to do games. That’s where my heart is.”
Brooks Boyer, chief revenue and marketing office of the White Sox, said in a statement that the allowed Benetti a chance to explore the opportunity with the Tigers and was “proud to see Jason continue to live out his dream” to broadcast baseball. Benetti is one of the top college football announcers for Fox.
Stone, who will return in 2024, wished Benetti luck.
“He’ll go on and have a wonderful career,” Stone said. “He’s a really talented broadcaster and I wish him nothing but the best. We had eight really nice years together. Everybody makes a decision that they believe is the best for them, and Jason obviously believes that. Detroit got themselves a wonderful broadcaster.”
Boyer said radio voice Len Kasper, who has a long background in TV including with the Chicago Cubs, would not move into the booth alongside Stone, and the search for a new TV play-by-play man to partner with Stone has begun.
Harrelson, who said over the summer he never retired from the Sox but “got retired,” is not expected to be a candidate.
Stone had some suggestions for the Sox but said Boyer and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf will choose his next partner. Stone is not worried about developing chemistry with another broadcaster at this point in his career.
“Whatever it will be, it will be,” Stone said. “I’ve broadcast with probably over 100 guys. Jason and I had a really wonderful broadcast, very well thought of nationally. He’s about as good as there is. We’ll see what happens.
“I can broadcast with anybody. The dynamic will be different because Jason is a rare talent. … It’s going to be a good broadcast regardless of who it is. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
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