White Sox hiring ESPN’s John Schriffen as new TV voice

The White Sox named ESPN’s John Schriffen as their new TV play-by-play voice, the team announced Thursday. Schriffen replaces Jason Benetti, who joined the Tigers’ booth in November after a falling out with the Sox. He’ll join analyst Steve Stone in the NBC Sports Chicago booth.

Schriffen, 39, was among three finalists for the job, with Red Sox radio voice Will Flemming and ESPN 1000’s Connor McKnight. Schriffen, who is biracial, becomes the second Black TV play-by-play announcer in MLB, joining the Mariners’ Dave Sims.

He joined ESPN in August 2020 to call Korea Baseball Organization games. He also has called football, basketball and softball, but he has little experience with major-league baseball. In 2022, Schriffen began calling select weekend MLB games for ESPN Radio.

Schriffen, who graduated from Dartmouth, pitched on the school’s baseball team as a freshman, then became the voice of Dartmouth athletics, calling baseball, basketball and hockey on the radio.

Schriffen’s broadcasting experience goes beyond sports. From 2012 to ’14, he was a correspondent for ABC News, reporting for the network’s platforms, including “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.” He also worked at the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., covering the White House and Capitol Hill.

More to come …