Len Kasper hopes to call next great Sox World Series moment originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
In October 2005, Len Kasper wrapped up his first season as the Cubs' TV play-by-play announcer. While the North Siders finished fourth in the NL Central, the crosstown White Sox were in the midst of a magical 99-win season, one that culminated with a World Series title.
The 2005 Fall Classic was the first in Chicago since the White Sox and Dodgers squared off in 1959. Although Kasper’s allegiance was to the Cubs, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend Game 2 of the White Sox-Astros series with longtime WGN director of production Bob Vorwald.
Kasper recalled during a news conference Friday discussing the proposition with his wife, Pam: “As long as the weather’s okay,” she told him.
The weather was cold and rainy that night, and while Kasper got “really, really, really wet,” he and every White Sox fan will never forget that game, which ended with a walk-off home run by Scott Podsednik.
Now, Kasper hopes to be behind the mic for the next great White Sox World Series moment. After 16 seasons with the Cubs, the Sox hired him on Friday to be their new radio play-by-play man.
Radio has always been one of Kasper’s passions. Growing up in Michigan, he idolized the late Ernie Harwell, a Hall of Famer and longtime Tigers radio broadcaster. He became emotional Friday discussing his relationship with Harwell, who passed away in 2010, his hero who became a mentor and good friend.
“Speaking to you today is the 12-year-old Len Kasper,” he said. “I wanted to paint the picture of the great game of baseball on the radio, like (Harwell) did for me growing up.”
Kasper held one of the top play-by-play gigs in baseball and called his time with the Cubs “the best 16 years” of his life. However, he wanted an opportunity to call playoff and World Series games, and outside of select innings on the radio for the Cubs, he has passed the baton come October. MLB playoff games are exclusively national TV broadcasts.
If this type of opportunity involved leaving Chicago, Kasper said he wouldn’t have considered it. But he knows these positions don’t open often and that he had to pursue it, and the Cubs, who made a push to keep Kasper, supported him.
Kasper stunned Brooks Boyer, the White Sox senior vice president of sales, when he called on Monday to express interest in the position. The two have been friendly over the years and Boyer expected Kasper to be calling to recommend someone for the opening. In fact, Boyer called him four years ago looking for “the next Len Kasper" as the heir to Hawk Harrelson.
Kasper vouched strongly for Jason Benetti, who landed the role. Now, the two will call games together on TV from time to time, when Steve Stone has games off. Oh, and if anyone has a good name for a Kasper-Benetti podcast, they’re taking suggestions.
Kasper said Andy Masur, the radio voice of the White Sox in 2020, is a great friend of his. He also recalled how supportive and welcoming longtime White Sox radio broadcaster Ed Farmer was of him, inviting Kasper into the booth and telling him “anything you need, you let me know” when the Cubs and Sox played one another
“Moving forward, we’re going to do everything we can to honor his legacy in the Sox radio booth,” Kasper said of Farmer, who passed away this past April.
Kasper was in the stands the last time the White Sox played in a World Series. He was there when the Cubs won it all in 2016. Now, he's looking forward to being behind the mic for the Sox next championship, which very well may come in the next few seasons.
“I know how important it is to win another World Series and I’m so excited to be here at a time in which this team is as good as any White Sox team since 2005," he said.
