For 33 years Ken "Hawk" Harrelson was the soundtrack of White Sox baseball. Now he can’t even stand watching the team play.
Harrelson told Sam Blum of The Athletic that he turns on the White Sox pregame and postgame show, but once the actual game begins he grabs the remote to change the channel. The product on the field is just too hard for the die-hard White Sox fan to watch.
You will be hard-pressed to find a more polarizing person in White Sox history than Harrelson. He was often criticized for being too much of a homer on the mic, but there was no denying his passion for the White Sox or baseball. The nine-year MLB vet coined a variety of iconic phrases in the booth such as “put it on the board”, “he gone,” “stretch”, “Kansas City special,” and “mercy”. Harreslosn has watched his fair share of bad White Sox baseball. His final season in the broadcast booth was calling a 2018 team that went 62-100. But nothing has compared to what he has seen in 2024.
He told The Athletic that he doesn't blame fans for not showing up because of how bad the ballclub is. However, he did heap praise on Ozzie Guillen, Frank Thomas Chuck Garfein and the rest of the pre and postgame crew and even went out of his way to compliment the radio work of Len Kasper and Darren Jackson. However, when asked about the television booth, Blum writes that Harrelson chose not to comment.
It’s no secret that Harrelson is good friends with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who has been the main source of many fans' frustration over the years. Harrelson won’t criticize Reinsdorf, but the fact he was willing to be critical of so many other facets of the team he loves is telling.
As Harrelson pointed out in the article, the White Sox simply “don’t have good players.” Things have gotten ugly on the South Side. Whether the 2024 season is part of a rebuild or not it is an embarrassing look for a professional organization.
