Kasper follows radio dream to White Sox

CHICAGO -- Len Kasper and Brooks Boyer, the White Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing, developed a friendship and a respect for each other during Kasper’s 16 years as the Cubs' television play-by-play voice.

But Boyer was caught totally off-guard when Kasper called him earlier this week expressing an interest in becoming the next White Sox radio play-by-play announcer.

“I expected it to be a recommendation for someone else to be the radio play-by-play voice for our club,” said Boyer during a Friday Zoom call. “I was stunned when he went on to tell me that his dream was to call big league games on radio.”

“If you have an interest in something,” said Kasper on the same Zoom call, “you sure better express your interest, or you might have to wait for a long time.”

That wait for Kasper came to an end this week, as his multiyear contract to join Darrin Jackson in the White Sox radio booth was officially announced on Friday. Kasper and Jackson will be working on ESPN 1000, the White Sox new flagship station, with Jackson entering his 22nd season as a White Sox broadcaster and his 13th as radio analyst.

“This is an exciting day,” said Kasper on ESPN 1000 Friday morning. “My head is spinning.”

In addition to his radio duties, Kasper will serve as a member of the television announcing team for approximately 20-25 games on NBC Sports Chicago. He will work alongside television play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti when television analyst Steve Stone has scheduled days off.

Kasper and Benetti plan to collaborate in creating several multimedia projects throughout the year. During Friday’s Zoom call, a smiling Kasper asked for name suggestions regarding a podcast to be done with Benetti.

“That’s something we would both find really intriguing,” said Kasper of the podcast. “We are going to put our heads together and try to blow some minds. All the other Twitches and things like that, we’ll try to hit all those platforms.”

“When Len and I were talking about his role, one of the things he said is that radio allows you to go in so many different directions,” Boyer said. “Len is going to explore quite a bit of where this is ultimately going to go. We will find out more the longer we go of what we want to deliver to fans and what’s going to be important to fans.”

Boyer gained permission from the Cubs to talk with Kasper after initial interest was expressed. Andy Masur handled radio play-by-play during the abbreviated 2020 season, taking over for the iconic and charismatic Ed Farmer, who passed away on April 1 at age 70. He was a White Sox broadcaster for 30 years and a radio play-by-play man for 15.

Masur was one of the candidates for the radio play-by-play job, but as Boyer explained when the new flagship was announced, they were exploring all options. That took a different route with Kasper.

Both Boyer and Kasper had praise for Masur. They also spent time paying tribute to Farmer on Friday.

“We have not been able to celebrate the life of Ed and all his passion and contributions to the White Sox,” said Boyer, referring to the pandemic preventing that celebration of life. “We appreciate everything he has done for the organization.”

“Farmio was a great friend to me. Incredibly supportive. So welcoming,” Kasper said. “I never did a Cubs/White Sox game during which I wasn’t invited to the radio booth: ‘Anything you need, you let me know. We’ve got food, soda, water.’ Just the sweetest guy, and I think about him a lot. Moving forward, we are going to do everything we can to honor his legacy in the Sox radio booth.”

Along with his 16 seasons with the Cubs, Kasper previously provided play-by-play for the Marlins (2002-04) and the Brewers (1999-2001). In 2016, he was named the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, and he was honored as the Harry Caray Sportscaster of the Year by the Pitch and Hit Club of Chicago in '11.

But Kasper always had a yearning for radio. That desire goes back to age 12, when Kasper would listen to Hall of Famer Ernie Harwell broadcast Tigers games on the radio. Harwell was a hero, a mentor and a friend to Kasper, a man who sent Kasper a handwritten congratulatory note when he got the Marlins job and called when he got the Cubs job. Kasper grew emotional talking about Harwell on Friday, and now he's following in Harwell's footsteps in moving from Chicago’s North Side to the South Side.

“I wanted to paint the picture of the great game of baseball on the radio like he did for me growing up,” Kasper said. “I want to call postseason games. I want to be behind the mic to call a World Series.

“I’ll never forget when I got hired in 2005, I got a call from Ron Santo. And here’s the phone call: ‘Len, you are a Cub! I can’t wait to work with you.’

"I mean, died and gone to heaven, man. I’m a Cub. Now I’m a White Sox.”