The Jason Benetti and Sox Announcing Thread

[bmags]

There must be a rulebook on announcing. You aren't allowed to have much silence. Any broadcasters out there or experts on the field? Cmon, you have to talk, talk talk. How can anybody not love the story last night Stone told about his bonus for winning the Cy Young? That is GOOD announcing in a 14-5 game. You got to talk, folks, if u are a paid announcer.

 

Hell yeah I agree with Greg.

[southsider2k5]

When Jason is not with Stone, usually on other sports, he doesn't try to be as cute, and he is really good. I think eventually they will cut it down a bit. I'm hoping sooner rather than later.

 

The deadtime in the game of baseball creates a whole lot more space to fill. People complain about things like Hawks Catfish and Yaz stories, but there is always going to be something to fill that time. For Jason and Steve it seems to be strange conversations about whatever weird topic that comes up. To be honest give me another Catfish story over another joke about Stone being cheap and never paying for anything.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

I don't mind benetti but I also don't mind most broadcasters.

 

But I do think the specific criticisms people try to make for why they don't like him are kinda ridiculous. Just say he rubs you the wrong way. Doesn't excite you. I get it. But if you read a game thread, there is literally zero people that could satisfy every nitpicky thing people cry about Benetti. The Q&A thing. I mean give me a break. That is how people talk and converse.

 

The only specific complaint that has resonated is the complaint that Farmer never says the score which is 100% accurate but also I am one of four people that still likes Farmer & DJ.

 

Though I will say Farmer sounds 100 years older this year. I don't think he's back again for another year.

This for the most part. Did I like Hawk more ? Yep. If you listen to Jason you know he is highly intelligent based on his humor. He can be downright funny , dry or poke fun at Stone )often as he does to himself too. Sure some things aren't as funny but when you yakety yak that's going to happen.

 

It's probably that he just isn't as big a homer as Hawk and I love baseball history /stories about which Hawk can do and Benetti can't having not played.

 

Hawk played the game and it seemed to hurt him when the Sox sucked. That resonates with me . Benetti is a professional broadcaster and it's ok the Sox lost I'm off to my next gig. I care so I want the play by play guy to care. Hawk did, Jason doesn't and that may never change.

[Brian]

When Jason is not with Stone, usually on other sports, he doesn't try to be as cute, and he is really good. I think eventually they will cut it down a bit. I'm hoping sooner rather than later.

 

Jason gets so far up Dan Dakich's ass __insert obvious punchline here__

 

Jason is fine because he is not Hawk. Hope he grows on me when he's there everyday.

[southsider2k5]

This for the most part. Did I like Hawk more ? Yep. If you listen to Jason you know he is highly intelligent based on his humor. He can be downright funny , dry or poke fun at Stone )often as he does to himself too. Sure some things aren't as funny but when you yakety yak that's going to happen.

 

It's probably that he just isn't as big a homer as Hawk and I love baseball history /stories about which Hawk can do and Benetti can't having not played.

 

Hawk played the game and it seemed to hurt him when the Sox sucked. That resonates with me . Benetti is a professional broadcaster and it's ok the Sox lost I'm off to my next gig. I care so I want the play by play guy to care. Hawk did, Jason doesn't and that may never change.

 

This is totally me. I love the Hawk is pissed when the team sucks and elated when the team is soaring. I love that he gets excited for big plays. I love that the umps can piss him off. He is one of the few announcers left today who is a reflection of his fanbase, and not a drone.

 

I am sad that Hawk has gotten old and lost some of his touch.

[Dick Allen]

The deadtime in the game of baseball creates a whole lot more space to fill. People complain about things like Hawks Catfish and Yaz stories, but there is always going to be something to fill that time. For Jason and Steve it seems to be strange conversations about whatever weird topic that comes up. To be honest give me another Catfish story over another joke about Stone being cheap and never paying for anything.

And then Stone says Jason pays for nothing. It goes on and on and on, and it gets old. A little silence is also OK. It's TV not radio. And I don't think it is all Jason's fault. Steve has been a willing participant and tries to come up with lines that just hurt.

 

They do come up with some witty things every game, but it's like a guy who hits 10 3 pointers. No big deal when you take 100 shots. I prefer the guy who goes 3 for 4 or 2 for 3.

 

I think it will get better. Every broadcast team except for the Blackhawks has a ton of critics.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Dick Allen

[jasonxctf]

I enjoy listening to Jason. He's such a nice change of pace from Hawk.

[mmmmmbeeer]

Jason is hilarious. I know that his extremely dry wit isn't everyone's cup o' tea but, personally, I love it. He also gets Stone to play along...another guy with a pretty damn good dry sense of humor.

 

Only complaint I have with him is late reactions on bombs. I want excitement from him from the crack of the bat until we know whether it's a dong or not. Jason doesn't seem all that interested/excited until the ball is almost to the wall. Hawk was the master of calling dongs basically on contact. Even if the ball came up short of being a HR, he got your juices flowing for a brief second.

[greg775]

So many good lines/posts in this thread you'd think this board is full of brilliant people. Seriously.

[TheTruth05]

When he focuses in on the game, he's pretty damn solid. Problem is he likes to play footsy with Stone way more than anybody wants or needs. If he could cut that back substantially he'd be a pretty easy listen. There's nothing worse than Stone being serious about an observation on a pitcher/pitch/play and Benetti takes it as a joke and Stone runs with it to not leave his young partner hanging. Also his HR call sucks considering it's almost nonexistent.

[chitownsportsfan]

When he focuses in on the game, he's pretty damn solid. Problem is he likes to play footsy with Stone way more than anybody wants or needs. If he could cut that back substantially he'd be a pretty easy listen. There's nothing worse than Stone being serious about an observation on a pitcher/pitch/play and Benetti takes it as a joke and Stone runs with it to not leave his young partner hanging. Also his HR call sucks considering it's almost nonexistent.

 

He would be a lot better if he had a good HR call.

[bmags]

Didn't it take hawk 4 years to get a home run call? Benetti has been doing 2 half seasons, give him time.

[Kyyle23]

I haven't noticed this at much this season, but it is really annoying when the broadcasts become a glorified Q & A session with Stone. There's a difference between deferring and acting like this is the first time you've ever watched a baseball game.

 

I think you are just thrown off because the Q and A session now stars Stone instead off Hawk. It was always like that with Hawk

[greg775]

I have no issue with the broadcast other than the cheap jokes. We get it Stone you're obsessed with money and Benetti knows it. No more s***ty jokes please.

Man if all threads were like this thread ... great comments.

I do agree upon reading everyone's posts maybe Benetti/Stone joke around a little too much. But it's all a breath of fresh air compared to the broadcasts on the nights Hawk was in a bad mood. Hawk was almost dysfunctional. When Wimpy was his full time partner didn't he tire of Wimpy and snap at him a lot? But the last couple seasons when Wimpy subbed for Stoney, they were great broadcasts. It almost seemed Hawk tired of Stoney which is ridiculous cause Stone is great. Hawk was like Jeckyll/Hyde. If he was happy it was a delight to hear his call of games.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I think he's great. Love hearing him call a game and find him to be very clever and witty. 100% on board.

 

I like Stoney, but he tries too hard some times to be funny. Wouldn't mind if they replace him eventually, but keep Jason.

Edited April 4, 2018 by ChiliIrishHammock24

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Jason is hilarious. I know that his extremely dry wit isn't everyone's cup o' tea but, personally, I love it. He also gets Stone to play along...another guy with a pretty damn good dry sense of humor.

 

Only complaint I have with him is late reactions on bombs. I want excitement from him from the crack of the bat until we know whether it's a dong or not. Jason doesn't seem all that interested/excited until the ball is almost to the wall. Hawk was the master of calling dongs basically on contact. Even if the ball came up short of being a HR, he got your juices flowing for a brief second.

 

I think this is fair and I agree.

 

But I think it may also be somewhat because Hawk was an EXTREME version of excitement on homeruns, so Jason pales in comparison. I do think he could amp it up a bit, but it's not really fair to contrast him to Hawk's explosions.

[Jack Parkman]

I really like Bennetti. I think the time has come though to replace Stone with AJP. Stone is good, but I'm a huge fan of AJP's work on Fox. Bennetti and AJP should be the PBP and color man for the foreseeable future.

 

On another note, I'm sad Hawk isn't going to be in the booth for what should be the most successful period in White Sox Baseball in 100 years. Hawk is so much fun when they are winning, but he is so bad when they're bad.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Jack Parkman

[flavum]

If AJ is ever going to take 40 flights and spend 100 nights a year in hotels for the Sox, he’ll be the manager.

[Lip Man 1]

The bigger Sox announcing issue is Ed Farmer as a play by play man. As someone who does it for a living all I can say is he isn't. He's a tremendous color analyst...but a play by play guy? Not even close.

 

That's a far bigger issue than Jason who I think is fine and will get better with time.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

Have to redo my post. It gets scrambled typing on my phone for whatever reason. Weird.

 

Anyway, I miss Hawk’s enthusiasm when they’re good. Was I tired of him? Yes. I like Jason but get sick of the jokes all the time. I hope gets better and I haven’t listened to him on any other sports calls. I’m trying to keep an open mind with him because he is intelligent and knows the game but gets into too many goofy jokes. Eh, maybe I’m just being fickle.

[Bananarchy]

The bigger Sox announcing issue is Ed Farmer as a play by play man. As someone who does it for a living all I can say is he isn't. He's a tremendous color analyst...but a play by play guy? Not even close.

 

That's a far bigger issue than Jason who I think is fine and will get better with time.

Agreed. The radio broadcast is just not good.

[Jake]

I won't compare him to Hawk, who I love, because there won't be another Hawk and if someone was going for that it would probably be bad.

 

That said, I like Jason. He knows what he's doing, he knows baseball, and his fondness for the Sox is obvious. It's endearing that Hawk loves the Sox, but Benetti is a lifer. He was a Sox guy before they paid him money.

 

The jokey stuff can get old but to me that's mostly a Stone issue. Jason will goad Steve into it or play along but it's Steve's actual jokes that are hard to understand or not funny. It's not that everything Jason says is funny, but the whole bad humor schtick is emanating from the super deadpan way Steve does it.

 

I haven't noticed this at much this season, but it is really annoying when the broadcasts become a glorified Q & A session with Stone. There's a difference between deferring and acting like this is the first time you've ever watched a baseball game.

 

Yeah, Jason knows a lot about baseball but sometimes seems like he's afraid to give analysis because that's not his job. With Hawk he was so self-confident that you never had that weird dynamic of one guy who can't make any subjective claim without running it past the other. I'd like to see Jason at least get more confident about making simple evaluations about what's going on — pitcher made a mistake there, that was a bad decision by somebody, etc.

[TheFutureIsNear]

I get the criticism of a few too many jokes...some of which are definitely very lame. But overall I think Jason does a perfectly fine job. Is he one of the better play by play guys in baseball? No definitely not, but he’s not bad either.

 

But then again I thought Hawk was borderline unbearable the past 2 years so I’m probably in the minority.

 

 

[kev211]

I like Benetti and Stone. Their banter is great, but I guess it isn't for everyone. For those saying to focus on the game. This isn't football or basketball. It's hard to focus on the game of baseball for 3+ hours.

[Heads22]

Like was mentioned earlier, I think he'll settle in throughout the year. He hasn't been bad.