Thanks, Sox!
Had Jason Benetti worked through the last year of his contract with the White Sox, he would have been subjected to describing an awfully historic 121-loss season from the TV broadcast booth.
Lots of gloom, mostly doom and no gleeful “Thanks, Cubs!” calls like that fun one Benetti made after an Eloy Jimenez homer against his former team.
Instead, Benetti had the converse delight of calling the Detroit Tigers’ improbable second-half charge to the postseason.
“It’s been one of the joys of my career,” Benetti told the Sun-Times before he called his final game of the season Sunday, a 9-5 Sox win over the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Benetti’s work is done because the networks commandeer the TV coverage of the postseason. It has been quite the ride.
“Watching somebody like [Tigers manager] AJ Hinch, who I revered for a while and [president] Scott Harris who I met because Len [Kasper] introduced us last year and see novel strategy and see it work,” Benetti said. “I’ve always rooted for the 13 seeds in the NCAA Tournament for obvious reasons but this is like watching a 13 seed win 12 games and then 18 more.
“It was really nice to lock in [last] week when every pitch matters because we don’t get to do the playoffs. That’s why Len is doing what he’s doing [radio] because he wanted to do the playoffs.”
Benetti called the Sox’ division winning season in 2021 but clinched on Sept. 23, so “this was the first time, other than the Statcast Wild Card games I did for ESPN I got to do lock-in playoff baseball.”
Meanwhile, Benetti’s replacement, Jon Schriffen, went through a tumultuous season his first year on the job. The Sox losing almost every night didn’t help. Benetti had built close ties to the organization, players and fans and he ached for most everyone.
“Losing is just hard on people so I feel for the human beings,” he said. “This is hard because this is people’s livelihoods, the average time in the major leagues is like three or four years and if these are your years, it’s hard. And it’s hard on staff members and fans. I feel for everybody.”
But don’t feel for Benetti, who after some discussions with his employer who allowed him to listen to outside offers.
“I’m fully at peace,” Benetti said. “Life has left me in a place that has been overwhelmingly welcoming, joyous, kind. It’s been a thrill.”
Like Hinch, who survived the Astros cheating scandal and was pegged by the Sox to replace Rick Renteria before they went to Tony La Russa instead, Benetti’s new opportunity brought him to a welcoming, joyous place.
“He got a second opportunity to do something and it’s turned into an amazing season,” Benetti said. “And I just feel extremely fortunate to be here in the moment.
“Just because you’ve gone somewhere else doesn’t mean you have to discard all the friends. But I’m so happy to have gotten to see what I saw [champagne] Friday night in the clubhouse. You only get to do life once and you want it to go as well as possible. I’m really glad they decided that after watching eight years of [my work] it is what they wanted here.”
A lifelong Sox fan from the south suburbs, Benetti will always be thankful the Sox wanted him in 2016 and “took a flyer on me.”
“The story of what ‘quote, unquote’ happened with the White Sox, the organization and I were in a different place in our lives than when I first got there and that’s OK,” Benetti said. “What’s the divorce rate in America? It’s fine, and then you find happiness and I’m very glad to have found happiness.
“I found a place that feels so one with me, just in total lockstep with everything they knew what they were getting, that’s just the way to live.
“Sometimes moving on is better. For everybody, and that’s OK. It doesn’t have to be a problem.”