Comments on: Hawk Harrelson: Total Homer, a Little Crazy, and the Best White Sox Announcer Ever

By: unamuno

unamuno — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:10:50 +0000

Listen,I don't mind an announcer being a homer,but come on! I don't think the Sox have gotten a call all year–every close pitch (didn't get it) should be a strike for a Sox pitcher and a ball for the opposing pitcher…Hawk will go on & on about an incorrect call against the Sox,but clams up when they get one in their favor. Even when replay shows he was wrong,he'll never concede that he was. And dadgummit–am I listening to Walter Brennan or something?

By: Darwin

Darwin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:58:22 +0000

Is he contractually obligated to say "don't stop now boys" every time the White Sox score though? Even the most annoying fan in the stands isn't that repetitive. He says it so often that at best, it doesn't mean anything. You'd think Steve would have to have said something about it by now. It has to drive him insane.

By: Breaking Balls: Gunaxin's 2010 MLB Season Outlook | Gunaxin Sports

Breaking Balls: Gunaxin's 2010 MLB Season Outlook | Gunaxin Sports — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:14:45 +0000

[...] Hawk Harrelson. That was easy. You can put it on the [...]

By: JerodMSF

JerodMSF — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:29:21 +0000

My thoughts exactly!

By: Tommy

Tommy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:51:45 +0000

i love watching the games with Hawk calling them. it’s like sitting around with buddies talking baseball and watching a game. the fact he is a homer let’s him get excited and depressed with the fans that are watching the games and that is what is so special about him.

By: ReneeH

ReneeH — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:25:08 +0000

Hawk is the best Sox announcer evah! It’s a sin the networks and MLB won’t let fans listen to their hometown announcers during the playoffs and World Series. The homers earned the right to call those games. Games on FOX and ESPN are torture, especially when they use ex-Cubs as announcers. Why can’t a network announcer get through a White Sox game without mentioned “the Cubbies” or “the north side”? Harry was a useless, slobbering drunk. (The best Harry is a comedian doing Harry. Example: Harry on LSD, “Steve, your face is melting!”) Alex, so happy to hear someone else complain about Ed Farmer. Talk backward, he does. Annoying, it is. Huge ego, Ed has.

By: Gordon Palmer

Gordon Palmer — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:11:37 +0000

Hawk is one of the few great promoters of the game of baseball today. He gives his honest opinion about players, coaches, and owners. Hawk has showmanship that is a trait usually missing from most of todays announcers. He does not try to act flashy or talk about topics he knows nothing about. His love for the game is sincere, as well as his passion. Trying to compare him to a Harry, Steve, or Jack does them all a disservice. We should just sit back and enjoy listening to him and his unique perspective on the game.

By: JRod

JRod — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:12:54 +0000

@laura sands,

I am not sure. I wish I could help you. Anyone else know?

By: laura sands

laura sands — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:14:30 +0000

Does anyone know how to e-mail Hawk and Stone to submit an on-air birthday request? I called the White Sox PR number and they had no idea! I cannot find the e-mail address anywhere . . . help?!!

By: Chip Ramsey

Chip Ramsey — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:17:21 +0000

@lightning36, Harry and Bob Waller were AWESOME! One time in KC, Harry kept promising Bob that he would take him out after the game for ribs. The Sox were up 5-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, but the Sox pitching and defense had a melt down and gave up eight runs. Going into the break, they didn’t cut Harry’s microphone right away. He said we’ll be back with the score, Kansas City 8, White Sox 5. (SLAM) You can forget about those God damned ribs!

There was also the Rod Carew bit.”Bob, can you imagine it? The old west, a crowded saloon, then suddenly the shutters burst open and a man in a big black hat says ‘MY NAME IS ROD CAREW!’.”

By: Chip Ramsey

Chip Ramsey — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:09:17 +0000

Harry had a great line about getting fired from the Cardinals. “I was there 25 years. I thought I was going to get a gold watch and they gave me a pink slip!”

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:00:13 +0000

@Chip Ramsey,

Harry was let go from the Cards because he was screwing around with the wife of the owner. Harry and Jimmy were the best on the Southside. I do love Hawk because he is a homer. That is what I expect the hometown announcers to be…just like me.

By: KVB

KVB — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:14:22 +0000

@KVB, PS In 2005 the whole city had zero power because of a bad bad hurricane (Wilma i think).

By: KVB

KVB — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:11:41 +0000

@Alex, Funny you say that about Kay since I am in NY right now and had some time to listen (not watch) the finale of the Yanks and Sox on Sunday. I noticed he had just as much excitement in his voice on the Dye and Thome HR calls as the Melky HR just with a few added catch phrases like “The Melk Man!” and “Doin it the melky way!” I was honored to hear the female color commentator because I was giggling since I couldn’t get her ridiculous “oh my gaaad Roga Clemens is in the owna’s box!…” sound bite out of my head that everyone made fun of.

Either way I don’t mind Farmer and I’ve always felt I have to wait until the end of the inning to get the score update no matter who is announcing radio. Jon Miller included, like during the 2005 world series since I was stranded with no power in Miami and just my car radio to listen. Digressing, its always been that way and that won’t change especially in the age of the internet and access on cell phones now.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:35:10 +0000

I agreed with everything you said until you got to Farmer. Farmer and DJ both have the obscenely annoying habit of constant Yoda-speak that just drives me up a wall, and now that the two of them are on the radio together, I can hardly listen to games anymore. Surely you’ve heard… “Swung on that pitch, AJ did,” “crushed that ball, did Dye,” etc. Not to mention that they won’t stop having guests on. You would hardly have known Buehrle was even throwing a good game through the first 6 innings of his perfect game because all they do is talk to random people. (Charlie Weis? This isn’t a football game, who gives a sh*t?) And perhaps the most basic gripe of all, Farmer almost never bothers to tell us the score! That’s the main reason people turn the game on 90% of the time, is just to get a score update, and you’ll be lucky if you listen to less than an inning before you hear one.

Farmer gripes aside however, I’m with you all the way on Hawk. I saw a Hawk-hater use Kay of the Yankees as an example, saying “You’d hardly even know Kay was a Yankees fan.” Considering he’s being paid by the Yankees to broadcast Yankee games for Yankee fans, that seems a d*mn shame to me. I don’t get why it’s “unprofessional” to be partial to a team when you are broadcasting for that team to their fan base. Joe Buck and Lou Pienella shamelessly rooting against the Sox in the playoffs in 05 on Fox? Now that unprofessional.