Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score in Chicago is not impressed with new Chicago White Sox TV announcer John Schriffen, but it’s still early. Schriffen is in his first season with the team after popular play-by-play man Jason Benetti chose to leave the White Sox to go to the Detroit Tigers.
“Full disclosure, Jason Benetti is a dear friend of mine,” said Bernstein. “And full disclosure, I am just sick about how things ended for him in Chicago.” Bernstein has expressed this sentiment before and talked about it with Benetti and his usual partner Laurence Holmes, who was off on this day.
A clip of a Spring Training home run call from Schriffen was played coming out of a commercial break and upon its conclusion, Bernstein commented, “It’s a long season, it’s a long major league career, just give yourself a little bit of runway, give yourself a place to go from here. It’s just a Spring Training game, that’s all it is, there’s gonna be a lot of home runs.”
Bernstein noted, just like players, it is Spring Training for everyone and that Schriffen may just be “working on stuff.” He added, “And I understand this is somebody getting a big league job for the first time.”
Bernstein explained to his audience that he doesn’t know Schriffen and really doesn’t know anything about him other than what is in his bio. “I wish him the best, and I mean that, and I hope he succeeds,” Bernstein said. “I have nothing against him, I am not rooting against him. I am a little bit concerned about what it’s going to be like to have that level of intensity for a Spring Training game…I am getting some flashbacks to Chip Caray, for not really recognizing that a Tuesday night in April is exciting and fun, but it’s not necessarily a night in October and shouldn’t be treated as such.
“… The good news is I dont know how compelled I am going to be to watch any White Sox baseball, truth be told…I dont want to make fun of him, I heard that call, I sent it in my group text with the ‘yikes face’ emoji, and thinking ‘oh boy man, it could be a long, rough year.’ My hope is that is a veteran truck and he has a veteran partner, I hope that he is figuring some things out and going to work his way into the season and work his way into what I hope is a long and fruitful broadcasting career. But, this is not a small market, this is not a medium sized market. As somebody who was a baseball broadcaster in small markets, that’s where you go to find your voice, that’s where you go to learn how you sound, listen to your tapes, to experiment in front of a less critical audience.”
Bernstein continued and talked about it not just being any market Schriffen has been thrown into. “As we know, this market is a highly ctitical audience…maybe only after New York when it comes to broadcasters,” Bernstain said. “I am concerned that he is going to get a real rough ride. I’ve got nothing against him, I am going to be truthful how I feel, I am not here to polish anybody’s apple and I am not going to tell you you are watching somethiing other than what you are watching or hearing something other than what you are hearing, because we make fun of everyone here…I hope the White Sox have not done a disservice for someone who is not quite ready for this platform, for this scrutiny, for that kind of pulpit.”
Bernstein said he wants to give it a little bit of time and then he will come back and talk to the audience more about this subject. “I think there is going to be a time and a place to reassess,” he said. “But, I want to be fair and give everybody a chance to work through Spring Training… I hear what you hear…I would feel awful if I jumped in and just started absolutely pounding this guy right now, I just don’t think it’s that time.”
Schriffen, 39, was a guest of Parkins & Spiegel on 670 The Score back in late January when his hiring was announced. When asked about his broadcasting style, Schriffen did not hesitate to say, “I’m going to bring the heat. I’m bringing the energy. As soon as there is a crazy play, you are going to hear it, you are going to feel it. Im a passionate person.”
Schriffen’s work for NBC Sports Chicago marks his first play-by-play duties for a team. He broadcast KBO games for ESPN during the pandemic and has done college basketball, college football, college baseball, the XFL, NBA preseason games, G-League and Summer League and Major League Baseball games for ESPN radio.
