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Sports

40 years in the booth: Chicago White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone celebrates his anniversary with an unplugged conversation

Steve Stone tweeted some positive news Sunday about a sub-.500 Chicago White Sox team battling through injuries and underachieving players.Then the Sox TV analyst goaded fans to chime in with an opposing point of view.Advertisement“I’m optimistic,” Stone wrote. “But feel free to whine and complain.”It was a far cry from the Steve Stone of 2004 whose on-air criticism of Cubs players and manager Dusty Baker got so heated it created a rift that couldn’t be healed, leading to Stone’s abrupt departure from the WGN booth after the season.AdvertisementAfter a few years in self-exile, Stone returned and reintroduced himself to the South Side, first in the Sox radio booth and then on TV broadcasts with Ken “Hawk” Harrelson. Stone still is going strong at 74, and on Tuesday he will celebrate the 40th anniversary of his broadcasting debut on ABC’s “Monday Night Baseball.”NBC Sports Chicago plans to crank up the “Wayback Machine” for the opener of the Sox series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, and there’s a lot to unpack since June 7, 1982. So get ready for a StoneFest.White Sox play-by-play man Jason Benetti with his partner Steve Stone in the broadcast booth at U.S. Cellular Field on May 20, 2016. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)Stone basically has gone through four metamorphoses while partnering with Harry Caray, Chip Caray, Harrelson and Jason Benetti. He played the role of amiable sidekick to Harry Caray, provocateur to Chip Caray and second fiddle to Harrelson.Now he has found his perfect match in the 38-year-old Benetti, a sharp-witted play-by-play man who doesn’t mind letting Stone get in a word (spoiler alert: Stone likes to get in a word). The two trade quips like an old married couple, sort of a Chicago baseball version of Al and Peg Bundy from “Married … with Children.”It’s not for everyone. But it’s a chemistry that can’t be replicated, as we’ve seen during Stone’s recent absence for a preplanned vacation in Las Vegas.Encapsulating 40 years of someone’s career would be impossible, and most of the great Stone stories can be found in his two books written with Chicago sports writers Barry Rozner and Mark Gonzales. I’ve known Stone for 35 years. He once got me in trouble with my bosses for goading me into telling the Cubs to fire general manager Ed Lynch during a rain delay of a Cubs-Giants game in 1999.I recently asked Stone for some brief thoughts on his main broadcast partners and other topics. He provided answers over the phone while betting an exacta box at Belmont at a Las Vegas sportsbook.Here is some of our conversation.AdvertisementOn working with Howard Cosell on “Monday Night Baseball” telecastsBefore he started at ABC, Stone said Al Michaels told him he could agree with everything Cosell said on air and gain a valuable ally while losing credibility. Or he could disagree and “probably be right” while making a “powerful enemy.” Stone played nice.In his second game, Stone was ready to tell an anecdote he learned about a player. When the player entered the game, Cosell blurted out the same story as if he learned it himself. It taught Stone not to give away everything in production meetings.“In my second game, I get big-footed by the original Big Foot,” he said. “Al Michaels told me: ‘Don’t worry. Howard never cared about anybody he stepped on on the way up because he had no intention on coming back down.’ And he never did.”Likenesses of White Sox announcers Darrin Jackson, Ed Farmer, Steve Stone and Ken Harrelson competed against each other during the 2014 season. (Abel Uribe, Chicago Tribune)On lessons learned from Harry Caray“One of the things Harry said to me that I’ve always carried forward is the best communicators are the ones everyone understands,” Stone said. “‘Don’t talk over the heads of your listeners.’ I never really forgot that. I try to stay away from cliches. Harry taught me a lot about how to appeal to a Midwest fandom. To put on airs in the booth never really was appealing to me and it wasn’t who I was.”AdvertisementOn Harry Caray’s transformation from critical White Sox broadcaster to promoter on Cubs broadcasts“Harry was one of the great salesmen of everything revolving around him,” Stone said. “He sold baseball. He sold beer. He sold the team he worked for and mostly he sold Harry. He understood who were the White Sox fans. A lot of people really disliked Harry because he was one type of broadcaster with the White Sox (and changed). But that was his fandom, the guys who’d go to McCuddy’s and have a couple boilermakers before the game. He’d get on the players and the manager, just like everybody else in the ballpark.“But Harry was really smart. And when he came to the Cubs he knew that wasn’t the Cubs fandom and he became good old grandfatherly Harry. He started singing, ‘Jo-dy, Jooooo-dy Davis.’ He made stars of these Cubs players who were just adequate. I came over and knew Jody was an average catcher and would say he was not an elite catcher and Cubs fans would go crazy.“Harry changed but not because he was older. He knew exactly who he was broadcasting to and he knew his Tribune Co. bosses didn’t want to see that (Sox version of him). He could read the room.”On transforming from sidekick to co-star with Chip CarayFormer Cubs announcers Steve Stone, left, and Chip Caray pose at Wrigley Field on Oct. 3, 2004. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)Stone compared his early role with Harry Caray to that of Murray, the supporting character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” played by Gavin MacLeod. “I was on ‘The Harry Show,’” Stone said. “Some days my part was bigger and some days it was smaller. But I never lost sight of the fact it was ‘The Harry Show.’”AdvertisementChip Caray told Stone before their first spring training broadcast in 1998 he would have “room to do whatever” he wanted.“It was almost like Jason and I,” Stone said of the partnership. “Jason does a prolific amount of research and so did Chip. They both were raised with computers, worked very hard and were younger than me.”On the bitter ending to his Cubs career“I had a wonderful run and literally thought at the time I’d spend the rest of my career with the Cubs,” he said. “As we know, 2004 came along. The great misnomer that continues to mystify me is why people keep saying I was fired by the Cubs for being too negative. The reality was WGN picked up my option.”Stone resigned after the season.On the final day of the 2004 season, Cubs fans chanted “Stoney, Stoney” under the WGN booth, showing their support for the broadcaster during his stormy feud with players — notably Kent Mercker and Moises Alou — and Baker.AdvertisementStone declined to rehash the incidents that led to his departure. But he noted Boston Red Sox owner John Henry once went to TV analyst Dennis Eckersley after Eckersley’s reported spat with pitcher David Price and said: “I’ve got your back and that’s not going to happen again.” Stone said neither he nor Chip Caray received that kind of support from anyone in the Cubs organization during the ‘04 controversies.“Nobody,” he repeated.On reverting to second fiddle again on Sox broadcasts with HarrelsonHawk Harrelson and Steve Stone at SoxFest in 2011 at the Palmer House Hilton. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)Harrelson and Stone, two alphas and former players, sat far apart during home games at Sox Park, leaving an impression they were reluctant partners. Stone said he “learned a lot” from Hawk and they just had different styles.“He was a lifer in baseball and so was I,” Stone said. “I did listen to him. His style of play by play was completely different than anybody’s I had ever worked with, and I knew that I came into his half of the town.“When I came to the White Sox (TV booth), that (decision) was controlled by Hawk Harrelson, and Sox fans love him to this day. I didn’t come in to capture the fandom. I came in to add something to the broadcast. Yeah, he and Harry could sometimes be mercurial, but I learned how to live with it with (Caray) and with the Sox and wound up with two wonderful jobs.”AdvertisementOn the conversational tone of his broadcasts with Benetti“We’ll set the stage early, and if it’s a dramatic game, we do baseball,” Stone said. “None of the lunacy we get into is at the expense of the game. But you can’t lose sight of the fact we’re trying to entertain an audience so they stick around and watch us through times maybe they would ordinarily click off.”Stone said Benetti “for a young broadcaster … has a great sense” of knowing when to have fun.“I like everything he does,” Stone said. “And he frees me up to do what I think I do best, which is dissect a baseball game from every angle and nuance.”On his Twitter trollsTwitter is a “nasty place,” Stone quickly discovered. He often trades barbs with his followers.Advertisement“For the most part, people there are idiots,” he said. “If you go with that idea, you’ll probably be OK.”Stone said he doesn’t take any guff from Twitter trolls because he’s not paid for his tweets.“I’m trying to give them the benefit of 53 years of professional baseball, and these guys are telling me things that I don’t know,” he said. “They can see it, but I can’t.”Stone acknowledged being referred to as a company man or homer for not speaking out more often on costly mental mistakes by players or questionable managerial moves by Tony La Russa.“If I said everything that came into my mind, I don’t think (the Sox) would want me to work for them,” he said. “Our object is to help sell the team. That’s part of the deal.”On his futureAdvertisementWhite Sox pitcher Steve Stone tips his hat in a farewell gesture to a few of the 50,412 fans who watched him pitch 9⅔ innings on July 31, 1977, against the Royals. (Ernie Cox Jr / Chicago Tribune)Stone said he’s broadcasting “simply for the love of the game, the love of baseball, the love of Chicago.” He turns 75 next month but hopes to continue as long as the Sox will have him. “It’s an outstanding way to make a living, to pass the summer, to keep entertained, to keep challenging my mind and to stay active,” he said. “No plans at this point of not doing it.”But a return to the Cubs TV booth to bookend his career is a non-starter for Stone.“I do not want to work any television broadcast for any other team than the Sox,” he said. “I’m pretty much a Sox guy.”

Lifestyle

Ask Amy: A broken marriage leads to broken friendships

Dear Amy: I have been divorced for two years. I frequently see my two young daughters, and remain on decent terms with my ex.Several friends, dating back to my college years, have chosen to “side” with my ex-wife.AdvertisementThere was no side to take, as I believe our divorce was our business and not theirs. Some have simply said nothing, and others have intimated that they are surprised by our marriage failure and do not want to be around the person (me, allegedly) who caused the failure – which of course is a classic “he said, she said.”But I recognize that they are free to choose.AdvertisementIn an angry moment, I unfollowed all of these people on social media, but now I miss keeping up with their families and lives, even through a screen.I’ve considered writing each of them an email or letter as a “mea culpa,” wishing them well and asking that we reconnect.Is that the best course of action, or should I let sleeping dogs lie?I’m in a new healthy relationship, but I long for friends from the past, who seemed to jump ship at an uncomfortable moment for them, but one when I needed them most.– Missing FriendsDear Missing Friends: These people are all thoroughly out of your life at this point, and because of that, there is no downside to you reaching out.Either they accept your bid and let you in, or they continue to respect their “unfriended” status.I do detect a certain tone in your query, however. Based on your description, it sounds as if you left the household and your wife is now the primary parent raising the children.AdvertisementGiven those details, plus the fact that you abruptly broke off contact with all of these people, you are behaving like a protagonist who is now reckoning with the consequences of the choices he has made.Yes, divorce is awful, especially when there are children involved.Friends do choose sides, and while that seems cowardly, they often choose to identify with the parent who has the kids and the house, especially if they also have children and there is a strong social history between the families.Your obvious frustration and defensive posture won’t help your case.Your mea culpa might include: “This has been the toughest period of my life. The dust seems to have settled and we are in a pretty good place. I’m working on my own issues, and making progress. I find that I really miss seeing updates about your life. We share such a long and rich history. I’m hoping to reconnect, at least through social media.”Dear Amy: My nephew is going to graduate from high school this month and I have NOT been invited to either the graduation or an open house they are having.AdvertisementI have saved up a considerable amount of money to give to him, but am now wondering if I should even send it.I never get thank you’s from him (or his parents, for that matter) for any gifts I send for birthdays and holidays.Now I’m thinking that I would rather use the money on expenses I have, but I know this will sever a very thread-bare relationship I have with my brother.What do you think?My brother already knows the amount I have saved, so if I send less, he will probably call me out on it.– Frustrated AuntAdvertisementDear Frustrated: If your brother knows the amount you have saved up for his son and he isn’t even bothering to include you in any of their graduation celebrations, then I’d say that this family is not at all eager to receive any gift from you.I think you should siphon off a very modest amount from your savings, slip it into a card for your nephew, and consider this matter absolutely closed.If this money from you is the thread your relationship has been dangling on, then I think you should snip it off.You are officially off the hook forever.Enjoy your liberation. I hope you treat yourself to something nice.Ask AmyDailyNo-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.Dear Amy: “Swim Parent” is being pressured to transport a neighbor’s daughter to and from swim practice, with no help from the neighbors.AdvertisementI agree that this isn’t right, but this parent is modeling respect and kindness to these girls. They’ll both remember it.– Been ThereDear Been There: I agree. Respect and kindness: Harder to master than the butterfly stroke.Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.©2021 Amy Dickinson.

Sports

Dallas Keuchel, released last month by the Chicago White Sox, agrees to a minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a minor-league contract with former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the move has not been announced. The Chicago White Sox released the left-hander after he posted a 2-5 record with a 7.88 ERA in eight starts. He was in the final season of a three-year, $55 million deal.AdvertisementThe 34-year-old Keuchel won the AL Cy Young Award with the Houston Astros in 2015 and is a two-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. He’ll try to recapture his old form by reuniting with pitching coach Brent Strom, who was with the Astros in 2015 and joined the Diamondbacks during the offseason.The Diamondbacks are looking for more options in their rotation after right-hander Humberto Castellanos went to the injured list with an elbow injury.AdvertisementThe Athletic first reported Keuchel’s deal with the Diamondbacks.If Keuchel is added to the 40-man roster, the Diamondbacks would be responsible for only a prorated share of the $700,000 major-league minimum, and the White Sox would remain responsible for the rest of his $18 million salary this year. The Sox also owe a $1.5 million buyout of a 2023 option.

Sports

Arlo White, the Chicago Fire’s occasional voice, will be the lead announcer for the controversial new LIV Golf series

Arlo White, until recently the voice of English Premier League soccer on NBC and an occasional Chicago Fire announcer, will be the lead play-by-play caller for LIV Golf, according to an announcement Monday by the controversial new rival series to the PGA Tour.White will be joined in the LIV Golf booth by longtime Golf Channel and NBC broadcaster Jerry Foltz and — for this week’s inaugural tournament outside London — former Asian Tour player Dom Boulet, known as the “voice of golf in Asia.” The announcement said a list of networks airing the series will be revealed later this week.AdvertisementThe LIV Golf series, started by Greg Norman and financed mostly by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has eight tournaments scheduled this year, including five in the United States. The 54-hole events offer huge guaranteed purses, with this week’s tournament awarding $25 million to the 48-player field and $4 million to the winner.The PGA Tour denied releases for its members to play in the LIV Golf events and most current top players have declined to join the new league, although a few marquee names such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia are in this week’s field.AdvertisementWhite called four Fire games on WGN-TV last summer, and he and the Major League Soccer team said in February he would return this season “for a longer spell.”I’ve been itching to confirm this. I’ll be back in Chicago in 2022, & for a longer spell this time. Looking forward to hitting the @WGNTV airwaves with @TNTerens & @TMeola1 & our fantastic broadcast crew. 29 games on WGN. This club is going places on and off the field 🔥 #cffc https://t.co/hSNS87WX7k— Arlo White (@arlowhite) February 18, 2022

White will be replaced by Peter Drury on NBC’s Premier League coverage when the new season begins in August, according to multiple reports last week. White had been NBC’s lead voice for coverage of England’s top league since it acquired Premier League rights in 2013.[ Arlo White is the voice of the Premier League on NBC. And although he’s from England, he’s a die-hard Cubs and Bears fan. ]Arlo White throws out a ceremonial first pitch before a Cubs-Mariners game on Sept. 3, 2019, at Wrigley Field. (Paul Beaty/AP)