https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/john-schriffen-enters-year-3-in-white-sox-broadcast-booth

He sounds like a guy that knows his job security is not great. As it should be. He brings little. Stone too. Bacon is better.

Here's the thing. I think guys like Hawk were announcers first, and Sox fan's 2nd. Yes, they were going to try to promote things, and show things in a positive light, but they weren't going to insult our intelligence with obvious BS. That's not John, and I think that's why he rubs people the wrong way. He's a promoter first, and an announcer second. On top of it, we have had some of the best of all time sit in that booth, and we realize when this isn't it. You can't force feed people into happiness. The harder you push, the more skeptical it will be. The Us vs Them thing just makes it worse. We aren't fighting Nazis here, we are watching baseball. If it is bad baseball, tell us it is bad baseball. Don't piss on my head and ask me to thank you for the rain.

I met him at a tailgate last season. Really nice guy. I think he’s just a super positive, upbeat guy. I don’t think it’s an act. I definitely get how that can be annoying when you’re watching your team get pummelled.

2 minutes ago, Lukakke Appling said:

I met him at a tailgate last season. Really nice guy. I think he’s just a super positive, upbeat guy. I don’t think it’s an act. I definitely get how that can be annoying when you’re watching your team get pummelled.

I'm sure he's a nice guy but that is about near the bottom in attributes for a good play by play guy.

22 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I'm sure he's a nice guy but that is about near the bottom in attributes for a good play by play guy.

Absolutely, but I root for him a little bit as a result.

I don't mind the energetic calls or the overt homerism, or even the bizarre, headscratching things he sometimes says; what I don't like is that he doesn't seem to know much about the game of baseball or its players. There are a lot of players to study, not exclusively on the Sox major league roster but the entire league or at the very least the AL Central, but it's something you ought to do if it's your job to talk about it 162 times a year. Benetti, who I think is better at calling football and basketball than baseball, never has this specific issue. It's a preparation thing. For many fans of the sport who don't get paid to do it, it's just a fun hobby. I think if you could combine McKnight and Schriffen into one announcer, he would be very good at the job. McKnight doesn't sound good when he does play-by-play but he knows the sport well enough.

Anyway, Derrick Rose won MVP his third year. Maybe Schriff improves in a contract year.

20 minutes ago, nrockway said:

I don't mind the energetic calls or the overt homerism, or even the bizarre, headscratching things he sometimes says; what I don't like is that he doesn't seem to know much about the game of baseball or its players. There are a lot of players to study, not exclusively on the Sox major league roster but the entire league or at the very least the AL Central, but it's something you ought to do if it's your job to talk about it 162 times a year. Benetti, who I think is better at calling football and basketball than baseball, never has this specific issue. It's a preparation thing. For many fans of the sport who don't get paid to do it, it's just a fun hobby. I think if you could combine McKnight and Schriffen into one announcer, he would be very good at the job. McKnight doesn't sound good when he does play-by-play but he knows the sport well enough.

Anyway, Derrick Rose won MVP his third year. Maybe Schriff improves in a contract year.

Problem is, homerism should go both ways... with Schiff, he feels none of the pain or angst from failure and embarrassing showings... instead he's just a total rah rah guy in the face of facts. Fans can't relate to a guy like that, in my opinion.

1 minute ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Problem is, homerism should go both ways... with Schiff, he feels none of the pain or angst from failure and embarrassing showings... instead he's just a total rah rah guy in the face of facts. Fans can't relate to a guy like that, in my opinion.

Yeah, good point, I liked Hawk's approach to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA-rGuST4s4

This is one of my favorite calls just because this is probably how any fan would react to their team giving up a game-tying grand slam in the 14th inning. Nothing to whitewash there, it just sucks, nothing to be said. On the other end, I thought Benetti was far too neutral like he was calling a game as a national broadcaster who isn't supposed to show favoritism toward one specific team. I think Schriff understands the assignment and blows too much smoke up the ass of a knowledgable fanbase.

I'm sure if he was my next door neighbor, I would really like him. Seems like a nice guy, loves dogs, must be bright. He went to Dartmouth. I agree with the poster above, his baseball knowledge isn't one of 30 jobs in country up to snuff. And i agree with the promoter first, announcer second analysis. Harry Caray was a promoter, but he gave his audience a little credit. Schriff either thinks the audience is really dumb, or perhaps he doesn't understand bad baseball when he sees it. I do think his South side stand up line was genius if used correctly. His first time using it was a spring training game in a year they set the MLB record for losses. If the Sox were good, we'd all be saying it. He was put in a bad place. Horrible team, replacing someone very popular...but he isn't the guy. I think they know that, but these guys cost money, so they probably are waiting for his contract to end.

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I'm sure if he was my next door neighbor, I would really like him. Seems like a nice guy, loves dogs, must be bright. He went to Dartmouth. I agree with the poster above, his baseball knowledge isn't one of 30 jobs in country up to snuff. And i agree with the promoter first, announcer second analysis. Harry Caray was a promoter, but he gave his audience a little credit. Schriff either thinks the audience is really dumb, or perhaps he doesn't understand bad baseball when he sees it. I do think his South side stand up line was genius if used correctly. His first time using it was a spring training game in a year they set the MLB record for losses. If the Sox were good, we'd all be saying it. He was put in a bad place. Horrible team, replacing someone very popular...but he isn't the guy. I think they know that, but these guys cost money, so they probably are waiting for his contract to end.

I would be surprised to see him go TBH. Loyalty seems to be the most important trait of a Sox employee.

5 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I would be surprised to see him go TBH. Loyalty seems to be the most important trait of a Sox employee.

Loyalty and he'll be relatively cheap. Not sure anybody is banging down the door at Sox HQ to offer him a better full time baseball gig.

42 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Problem is, homerism should go both ways... with Schiff, he feels none of the pain or angst from failure and embarrassing showings... instead he's just a total rah rah guy in the face of facts. Fans can't relate to a guy like that, in my opinion.

Yeah, coming into Miami with an 0-3 record, I would have liked him to have more of a reserved/subdued tone for some of these calls, kind of like, "Okay, now we're seeing what they're supposed to look like", instead of "OH NO, YOU DON'T RUN ON EDGAR QUERO!!" They just had their asses handed to them, nobody's quite ready for that taunting tone.

1 minute ago, WestEddy said:

Yeah, coming into Miami with an 0-3 record, I would have liked him to have more of a reserved/subdued tone for some of these calls, kind of like, "Okay, now we're seeing what they're supposed to look like", instead of "OH NO, YOU DON'T RUN ON EDGAR QUERO!!" They just had their asses handed to them, nobody's quite ready for that taunting tone.

The Schriff-dawg only has one gear.

44 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I would be surprised to see him go TBH. Loyalty seems to be the most important trait of a Sox employee.

I think if Ishbia gets a bigger voice, and he should, this won't be allowed to continue.

2 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

Here's the thing. I think guys like Hawk were announcers first, and Sox fan's 2nd. Yes, they were going to try to promote things, and show things in a positive light, but they weren't going to insult our intelligence with obvious BS. That's not John, and I think that's why he rubs people the wrong way. He's a promoter first, and an announcer second. On top of it, we have had some of the best of all time sit in that booth, and we realize when this isn't it. You can't force feed people into happiness. The harder you push, the more skeptical it will be. The Us vs Them thing just makes it worse. We aren't fighting Nazis here, we are watching baseball. If it is bad baseball, tell us it is bad baseball. Don't piss on my head and ask me to thank you for the rain.

Exactly this. It's like we have Vince Offer in the booth.

This is kind of wild to declare lol.

20 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I think if Ishbia gets a bigger voice, and he should, this won't be allowed to continue.

He's in the best possible position. He gets plausible deniability for anything bad, and gets to be a hero if/when he ends them. In my lifetime, the same families have own my favorite teams. JR has owned the Sox and Bulls, Wirtz's have owned the Hawks, and McCaskey's have owned the Bears. For the most part, all three groups have seen their wealth become primarily their team, instead of something independent from their team. The Wirtz's are the only ones who own a real cash based business of the three. I am sure we end up vastly disappointed, but I am sure ready to try something new.

2 hours ago, Lukakke Appling said:

I met him at a tailgate last season. Really nice guy. I think he’s just a super positive, upbeat guy. I don’t think it’s an act. I definitely get how that can be annoying when you’re watching your team get pummelled.

I'm sure he's a nice guy, but being a nice guy doesn't mean you deserve a job you're under-qualified for.

28 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

This is kind of wild to declare lol.

I’ll take the pigeon meme instead.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by WhiteSox2023

He was/is just a terrible fit for the typical Sox fan.

He's a rah-rah, over the top announcer that likes to bring a certain "attitude" to the broadcast.

The Sox are 102-226 since he started. You flip that record around, the announcer could basically shout racial slurs into the microphone and no one would care.

I don't think he's very good at his job, but he was put in a very tough situation knowing his skillset.

I have watched enough games to form my own opinions and tune out announcers, especially old guys like Stone who repeat themselves ad nauseum. Hey, Andrew Vaughn was the best hitter in college. Really now?

Hawk and Harry were brash and entertaining, Bennetti was an insufferable nerd, and Schriff is a young man who is awkward at times. He tries too hard to please fans and critics. Some folks will never give him a fvking break. The announcer should not be an issue, at least for people who know and enjoy baseball and don't need to be entertained by a clown like Harry or be titillated with trivia or arcane side stories. Can Stone demonstrate his grip on a circle change again ?

18 minutes ago, Tony said:

He was/is just a terrible fit for the typical Sox fan.

He's a rah-rah, over the top announcer that likes to bring a certain "attitude" to the broadcast.

The Sox are 102-226 since he started. You flip that record around, the announcer could basically shout racial slurs into the microphone and no one would care.

I don't think he's very good at his job, but he was put in a very tough situation knowing his skillset.

That's just it. A good announcer can RTFS (read the friendly scoreboard) and adjust accordingly. It's like the dude who get a tech celebrating a dunk while down 40 with a minute to go for a 2-18 team. Time and place bro.

Over many years...I have NEVER tuned in or out of a game because of an announcer. I want to watch baseball, not listen to BS.

7 minutes ago, tray said:

I have watched enough games to form my own opinions and tune out announcers, especially old guys like Stone who repeat themselves ad nauseum. Hey, Andrew Vaughn was the best hitter in college. Really now?

Hawk and Harry were brash and entertaining, Bennetti was an insufferable nerd, and Schriff is a young man who is awkward at times. He tries too hard to please fans and critics. Some folks will never give him a fvking break. The announcer should not be an issue, at least for people who know and enjoy baseball and don't need to be entertained by a clown like Harry or be titillated with trivia or arcane side stories. Can Stone demonstrate his grip on a circle change again ?

I like to learn about the game from the announcers. Hawk and Wimpy were great for that. Hawk and Don Drysdale were great, too. Not just the stories, but explaining why something happens. I get none of that from Schriffen. He doesn't even ask thoughtful questions. "Green light on 2 and 0?" is just inane.

With all the hate Schriff gets here, I certainly wanted to cut the guy some slack. I hate his cadence and that taunting tone. It's like acting. Don't "act". Let yourself feel the anger in a scene and be angry. I feel like Schriffen's trying to act excited instead of letting himself feel excited.