This time of year play-by-play man JASON BENETTI is wearing many hats for ESPN, calling both college hoops and college football throughout the winter. Come spring, he'll return to his role as the White Sox TV play-by-play man, where he replaced the legendary HAWK HARRELSON on a full-time basis last season. Benetti recently took THE DAILY through a typical day during the White Sox season in the leadup to a 7:10pm first pitch.
8:30-10:30am: Generally I have my alarm set on Alexa. The first thing I do is open my Google doc where we share ideas for that game day. Then it's going to assorted websites like Fangraphs, Baseball Reference and Statcast. Then I'll read what the Sox beat writers are writing about, as well as the local newspaper online for whatever team we're playing. Interspersed with that I'll be checking Twitter and my emails as well.
11:30am: Our producer will call me and analyst STEVE STONE about what we'll do for the open that night. Then sometimes I'll go to lunch with Stone and we'll spend an hour talking. Or I'll spend the lunch hour at home to have time to turn baseball off for a little while and make sure I have a life as well. I'll either get Grubhub or go walk somewhere and pick something up.
2:00pm: In my car going to the ballpark. I listen to music on Bluetooth. I'm a big in-car singer. It's either classic rock -- BILLY JOEL, ELTON JOHN -- or musical theater. I really like the soundtracks to "Dear Evan Hanson," "Hamilton," "Wicked" -- shows I know by heart. I used to listen to sports radio but I like to clear my mind before I get to the park.
Benetti (l) typically arrives to Guaranteed Rate Field around 2:00pm for most White Sox home gamesGETTY IMAGES
2:30pm: I'll walk through the office and then check in with the director of broadcasting. I'll sit in his office and chat for maybe 15 minutes. Then I'll stop by the clubhouse, say hi to a couple players. Then if the lineup has been posted, I go upstairs and do a couple statistical things.
3:30pm: Clubhouse opens generally at 3:30. I'll go down and record a quick interview with a player. Then at about 4:00pm, I'll go back to the booth. Manager RICK RENTERIA typically does his pregame media scrum at 4:30. I'll go down and listen to that. Then we do a segment called "One Thing With Ricky" where I ask him just one question.
4:45pm: I'll record our scoreboard keys to the game, about a 60-90 second thing. Who's pitching, what headlines do we have, what sponsorships do we have, etc. I'll record that, go back upstairs. About 5:00pm I grab a bite to eat in the media dining room or the booth. Then I'll meet with our producer and Stone and our sideline reporter to talk about what's going on in the open. Then it's really just sit around and B.S. awhile with Steve from 5:30-6:00.
6:20pm: We tape the open, then about 6:45, I'll go grab a cookie or run to the restroom and then it's first pitch at 7:10.
10:30pm: Drive home. Usually I'll do a couple things for the game the next day once I'm back -- whether it's looking at starting pitchers or watching video. I'll have MLB Network on as I wind down to see what's going on around the league that day. I'll do a crossword puzzle, then I'll go to bed watching something non-baseball related like "Breaking Bad" or "The Wire." A series I've probably watched already and know by heart.
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