At first glance, you might think: accountant. Perhaps an attorney β he does hold a law degree. Maybe even a physician, with a unique specialty.
But when Jason Benetti opens his mouth and speaks, almost every sports fan in America can make a positive ID. One of the most recognizable voices in contemporary sports broadcasting, Benetti has worked for ; currently calls college football, basketball, MLB, and NFL games for ; and for eight years was the TV play-by-play announcer for his beloved Chicago White Sox.
Until now. This spring, Benetti enters the booth as the TV voice for our beloved Detroit Tigers β yet another victory over our bitter division rivals β replacing hometown talent Matt Shepard. ranked Benettiβs departure as Chicagoβs No. 1 sports media story of 2023.
Take that, Second City.
βJason is a world-class talent,β said a beaming Ryan Gustafson, executive vice president and chief operating officer of , upon announcing his hiring last November. βWe are thrilled to welcome him to our family.β
But the burning question is, Why did he leave his family? A native of suburban Homewood, Illinois, Benetti was raised by die-hard White Sox parents and became a scion of the South Side. Landing the Sox TV gig, replacing a Chicago legend in Ken βHawkβ Harrelson, would seem to be the ultimate career achievement, an impossible dream come true.
So, Jason β¦ why are you here?
![](https://cdn.hourdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/BSD.JasonBenetti.11.9.23.0032-1024x683.jpg)
βThe reason I did it is because of the people here,β he says earnestly, seated in a boardroom at Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park peering over his shoulder through the window behind him. βDuring the interview process, you learn a lot about people and what they value through the questions they ask. And what the Tigers value is humanity, the full scale of who I am.
βEmpathy is important to them. How do I fit with the group, and how can we build something that is outstanding TV production? It sounded like they wanted me, someone who cares about baseball but also really likes to have a good time. So Iβm here because of that, and also because of [Tigers manager] A.J. Hinch, who I revere, and [team president] Scott Harris, who is one of the most inquisitive people Iβve ever met.β
It was widely reported that a rift between Benetti and a White Sox executive caused by an incident in which Benetti felt disrespected may have hastened his departure.
ββ¦ What the Tigers value is humanity, the full scale of who I am.β β Jason Benetti
βA lot has been written about that,β Benetti acknowledges. βMuch of the stuff people talked about happened after the 2022 season, and I stayed another year after that. And if the Tigers werenβt who they are, I wouldnβt have left. I was planning to be the voice of the White Sox for a long time. But then this came open.β
Benetti, an Illinois native, attended high school in a Chicago suburb. Born 10 weeks premature and hospitalized his first three months, he received a cerebral palsy diagnosis as a toddler and underwent years of physical therapy. To this day, his right eye tends to drift off on its own occasionally and he walks with a discernible hitch.
βI donβt really have physical limitations; it just doesnβt look great when I walk,β he says. βIβm fine. I have no chronic pain, which is a total blessing, and I handle stairs. Iβm not as fast as other people, but if I need to get across the street when that little orange hand gets to seven, Iβm going! Iβm stubborn as hell.β
No lie. It was stubbornness that led him to play tuba in his high school marching band, until the band director suggested he might be better suited to announcing their routines from the press box. It prompted him to attend , a school renowned for its broadcasting program, even though he had never visited the campus. And it motivated him to earn a Juris Doctor from the .
![](https://cdn.hourdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/091222-AMF-1092-1024x683.jpg)
βI signed up for the bar, then I got the White Sox job,β he recalls. βI never really wanted to be an attorney, mostly because Iβm not that fondΜύof paperwork. But Iβm glad I took the courses because itβs helped me in reading rule books, asking questions, and learning that even if you say something as correctly as you intended, sometimes the audience is going to mishear.β
Benetti has become an informal spokesperson for cerebral palsy, collaborating with the in New York to star in a series of animated shorts called , taking a lighthearted look at the uncomfortable situations people with disabilities often face. βTheyβre all things that have actually happened,β he says.
βOne of my favorite parts of what I do for a living is that some people hold me as a version of hope, sometimes for their kids. Since I didnβt have that as a kid, I appreciate that and cherish it. But Iβm very cognizant that not everybody with CP is as physically fortunate as I am, so Iβm a little bit leery of being a capital-A advocate for everyone. I want people to be able to live their own lives, but if you do derive some hope from me, phenomenal.β
His advocacy work makes his relentless schedule of travel, game preparation, and play-by-play even more remarkable, and Benetti plans to maintain his national profile. Heβs committed to call at least 127 Tigers games when not covering other sports; Dan Dickerson, Detroitβs longtime radio voice, will shift to TV when heβs away.
Beyond his White Sox coverage, Benetti may be best known nationally for the zany, trippy college basketball games he calls with Bill Walton as his color analyst. In Detroit, his rotating booth partners will include Kirk Gibson.
βGibby and I have had dinner and chatted on the phone,β he says. βThe way he loves nature and looks at humanity gives me a Bill Walton vibe. I want them to be friends. They donβt know each other, but on a human level they need to. Itβs my crusade to make that happen.β
This story originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of ΒιΆΉ·¬ΊΕ Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of ΒιΆΉ·¬ΊΕ Detroit at a local retail outlet. OurΜύdigital editionΜύwill be available on April 5.
| Μύ |
|