Steve Stone joined Mully and Haugh Tuesday morning on 670 The Score in Chicago to reflect back on his broadcasting career. June 7 marked forty years in the booth for the former pitcher.
“As people usually say when they get to any point later in their life, as a seasoned citizen they say it really went by quickly,” Stone said. “It usually does. You can look back and look at the ground you covered, but realistically, it was in the blink of an eye.”
On June 2, 1982, Stone retired after eleven Major League seasons. Five days later, his broadcasting career began on ABC’s Monday Night Baseball working with Al Michaels and Bob Ueker. He joined the Cubs’ television booth the following season, where he stayed until 2004. Since 2005, he has been part of the Chicago White Sox broadcast crew.
That means Steve Stone has worked with a number of different broadcasters. He told Mully and Haugh that he had to learn to adjust to each new partner. They were all coming in looking to perform their best and it was up to him to keep up.
“Each and every one of these guys who is calling Major League Baseball on a play-by-play basis, they have a lot of pride in what they do and they try to bring it each and every day. Knowing that and understanding that, I have to give them some room just like they have to give me some room.”
Mike Mulligan asked Stone what made him so good as a broadcaster. Steve Stone said he had the kind of playing career that made it possible to offer many different types of insight.
“When you talk about guys that put on a headset that were really great in the game, or were a really great player in the game, I’m not sure they can relate to the tougher aspects of the game,” Stone answered. “Because I was the eleventh pitcher on an eleven-man staff at times, I was the number one pitcher on an eleven-man staff at times, I saw each and every aspect of the game. I realize what it was like to not have a job and try to win one in spring training or to go into the bullpen and try to work your way back into the rotation as well as one of those guys you depend on every fifth game to give you that stopper role-type feeling.”
Hawk Harrelson retired as the play-by-play voice of the Chicago White Sox in 2019. Since then, Steve Stone has been partnered with Jason Benetti calling games on NBC Sports Chicago.
