For all the White Sox’ problems through the years, their TV broadcasts haven’t been among them.
Ken ‘‘Hawk’’ Harrelson became an institution in the Sox’ booth, creating his own lexicon and flying the team’s flag wherever he was. Jason Benetti, a Homewood native who rooted for the Sox as a kid, grew his national profile with the team, leaving ESPN for higher-profile broadcasts at Fox. Steve Stone, one of the best baseball analysts ever, worked with both.
But the Sox put themselves in a tough spot by allowing their relationship with the beloved Benetti to disintegrate. In their view, he had grown too much and his national commitments took him away from them for too long. When the Tigers expressed interest in Benetti, the Sox allowed him to speak with them, and he eventually left with a year remaining on his contract.
Now the Sox are in the final stage of naming Benetti’s successor. And while the job is quite desirable, considering it’s in the nation’s third-largest market, it comes with some risk. Things got personal between Benetti and the Sox, specifically with executive Brooks Boyer. They made up in the end, but the damage had been done. Surely, the remaining candidates are aware of that.
Those final candidates, the Sun-Times has learned, are Red Sox radio voice Will Flemming, ESPN 1000’s Connor McKnight and ESPN TV’s John Schriffen. Mike Monaco, who initially was a favorite for the job, removed himself from consideration because of scheduling conflicts with ESPN. He signed a three-year extension with the network late last year.
Flemming is the most experienced of the three, having called Red Sox games since 2019. Previously, he called the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox for four years. Flemming also has contributed to ESPN and CBS. His brother Dave is a broadcaster for the Giants and ESPN.
Schriffen joined ESPN in 2020 to call Korea Baseball Organization games. He doesn’t have a lot of experience calling MLB games. He has called mostly college sports on the network, in addition to NBA G League and Summer League games.
McKnight has been a regular fill-in on Sox radio broadcasts, but he has a few telecasts under his belt. He mostly has been the Sox’ pregame and postgame host since joining ESPN 1000 in 2021. Before that, he co-hosted middays on The Score.
From anecdotal fan reaction, McKnight is the favorite. Sox fans are familiar with him, as he is with them. Before working at ESPN 1000, McKnight hosted Sox pregame and postgame shows on WLS-AM (890), which aired games in 2016 and ’17. And he showed potential in his few TV broadcasts.
But hiring McKnight would create an opening at ESPN 1000 that neither the team nor the station might want to deal with. McKnight also hosts ‘‘White Sox Weekly’’ on ESPN 1000, and spring-training games begin in a month. The Sox’ search for a TV voice is in its third month.
Flemming has broadcasting chops. He has a great voice, speaks smoothly and is conversational. Most important, he comes conflict-free. The Sox have made it clear to candidates that they want their broadcaster in their booth the vast majority of the time. Flemming could oblige.
Whoever gets the job will be walking into an outstanding booth with NBC Sports Chicago. Besides working with Stone, he’ll have producer Chris Withers talking in his ear. Withers is as good as they come at that job. Associate producer Christopher Kamka is a wealth of information, and directors Dave Turner and Andrew Bloustein are top-notch.
The Sox deserve the benefit of the doubt whatever they decide. After all, they were the ones who hired Benetti. That’s a feather in their cap. But Benetti should’ve been the Sox’ TV voice for decades. As appealing as the job is — keep in mind, it’s one of 30 — Benetti’s exit should serve as a cautionary tale for candidates.
