Hawk Harrelson has had plenty of memorable calls in his career. The man who has replaced him in the White Sox booth, Jason Benetti, has one that he especially loves.
Benetti told that story as a guest on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show.
“There are so many iconic calls,” Benetti said. “The one that gets buried is there was a random game in the early 2000s. Timo Perez was on first base and somebody hit a gapper. It was a tie game in the ninth. Timo Perez is coming around from first and basically between first and second Hawk jumps in and says ‘Come on, Timo’ like he’s starting to root for him. He was pushing him in with his voice. It is legendary and people never play it and I don’t know why.”
We got you, Jason. The video above has Benetti’s interview mixed in with the Timo Perez call. Ben Davis hit the gapper on Aug. 8, 2004, for a walkoff win against the Indians.
“I had it on my DVR in college and I just played it over and over again,” Benetti said. “I just thought it was amazing.”
Benetti also made the case for Harrelson to get in the Hall of Fame. That is topical because Hawk is a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award.
“The vocabulary that he added and the things that people just say that are Hawkisms,” Benetti said. “Why shouldn’t somebody who changed the language of the sport be an immediate Hall of Famer?”
MLB
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the White Sox easily on your device.