By now, you’ve all heard the news that White Sox television voice Jason Benetti is leaving the team for the Detroit Tigers television job. Benetti had developed quite the following among Sox fans, who appreciated the announcer’s sense of humor. Especially since the team has been less than stellar on the field for the last few seasons. It never needed to come to this conclusion. Not just in this case, but in many other situations that aren’t as high-profile.
Jason Benetti is uber-talented. He’s quick to turn a phrase and drop a pop culture reference. Keeping things interesting during the course of a baseball game, to give fans a laugh and some valuable information along the way. Nothing seems too big for him, whether it’s a late-season game with the playoffs on the line or a big rivalry game in college football or basketball.
There’s an ease at which he does the job that is hard to explain. We throw the term “rising star” out there quite a bit, but this is only scratching the surface when it comes to Benetti’s present and future. So why is it that he felt it was time to leave the White Sox? There’s a lot to this and it’s not just a White Sox issue.
I always have gotten the feeling that organizations do not understand that pressure, or respect that big assignment. They tend to look at the broadcasters as if they are a dime a dozen. “Anybody can sit down in front of a microphone and call a big-league game,” said a brilliant front office manager probably.
Give me a break. If the people who hire and fire these announcers actually knew how difficult it is to broadcast a 162-game schedule, things like this wouldn’t be happening. Organizations need to have a better appreciation for those people who build a bond and relationship between the fan base and the team. Taking broadcasters for granted seems to be the prevailing thought amongst many front offices. Not all of them, but a lot of them.
There are also people in position to hire/fire that don’t really have broadcasting backgrounds. Why don’t all the teams have a person in place who “gets” what we do and respects the job for its difficulty level?
Having a quality team on the field should be the most important thing to an organization. But, when that doesn’t happen, who becomes the voice of reason? Your radio and television broadcasters. They are the ones charged with keeping interest in the product when it isn’t very good. I have had some experience in this realm and the responsibility is a great one.
Sometimes there is a disconnect about the value of a broadcaster succeeding to the point he/she is attaining national attention and work. It seems like this played a part in the divorce between Jason Benetti and the Sox.
In an interview with The Chicago Sun-Times in February, just after finalizing a two-year deal with the Sox, the writing seemed to be more visible on the wall. “The really good news is we got somewhere good,” Benetti said. “It was kind of a pain, really. There were some things that we had to get through that I thought were silly, and I’m sure they thought some of the stuff that I was talking about might’ve been silly. But we got there in the end.”
Previously there was no concrete number of games that he had to do for the White Sox, but there were some numbers discussed in that deal.
Some teams just don’t seem to grasp the concept, that the better their team voices are doing, the better the organization looks. Instead of looking at it as, “Well, I guess college football is more important than us”, the frame of mind should be something different. They shouldn’t feel like a jilted lover, they are getting promoted without having to pay for it.
When fans see that broadcaster on the big stage, they think, “Oh hey, that’s cool that’s our announcer doing this game.” It shouldn’t be an either/or situation. Shouldn’t teams want to take pride in hiring and developing talent in the booth? It is a great reflection on the organization when an announcer succeeds.
The Brewers have handled Brian Anderson’s case extremely well. Anderson has juggled several jobs that interfere at times with Milwaukee’s schedule. Anderson calls the NCAA Tournament, Major League Baseball, and NBA games for TNT and TBS. It severely limits his time for local baseball to the tune of only 50 games a season over the last two.
The Brewers seem to be good with it. They’ve used Jeff Levering to cover the majority of the games during the season. So really, it’s a win/win for Milwaukee. They get to watch their hire, Anderson, succeed in a big way on the national level and they’ve developed a quality broadcaster in Levering to pick up reps and games. Anderson says he has no intention of leaving the Brewers because he and his family are firmly entrenched in the community.
In the White Sox case, they seemed to understand that, when hiring Jason Benetti in the first place. He worked road games, while the team was moving on from Ken “Hawk” Harrelson. It’s so important for fans to get to know the new announcer’ before they feel comfortable with the change. The Sox accomplished that feat in 2016, but maybe forgot about it, this time.
I will say there are times when a compromise is needed on both sides. If your team is in the hunt and playing meaningful games in September, there is a tendency, and with good reason, to want the #1 broadcaster in place. That seems only logical. You would think also that the #1 person would want to be there as well.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I know everything that took place in this situation. I don’t. But reading between the lines, this is how I see it. Fans in Chicago are extremely upset at losing Jason Benetti. It’s hard for them to understand, why a hometown kid, who grew up loving the White Sox, is now the lead television announcer for the Tigers. It’s hard to think about for them. The fan base has squarely placed the blame on the team for allowing this to happen. The court of public opinion has spoken.
Jason Benetti, for his part, has approached the move with class. He was introduced to the Tigers’ media group last week on a video chat. He expressed gratitude to the organization he was leaving.
“I should have said this first,” Jason Benetti said on the video call, “but the White Sox hired me. They hired me, a person who doesn’t walk normally, to be the front-facing person in their organization in 2016. And the only reason I’m here is because of them. I know what people might say about me leaving and all of that, but the White Sox didn’t have to grant permission for me to have this opportunity, either.”
Obviously, the game will go on and it will take fans a little time to get used to whoever might be next. But it seems you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. The White Sox will likely find that out in 2024.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
