Voices of Summer: The White Sox on Radio

     The home-team baseball broadcaster has a unique position among sports announcers. None other visits with fans every day for six months at a time, year after year, even decade after decade. None other is so inseparable from our memories of specific plays and players and games, or of lazy summer afternoons and evenings from long ago. None other becomes virtually a family member for those who closely follow the team.      

     The White Sox began broadcasting their games on radio in 1924, on television in 1948. Prior to 1944, the Sox did not grant exclusive rights to any radio station; as a result, multiple stations carried the games in any given year, including five in 1931 alone. Of the 11 stations that carried the games at one time or another during those years, no reliable record of the broadcasters exists today except for WMAQ and WGN.                 

     Ed Farmer, who passed away on April 1 of this year, ranks as the second longest-tenured White Sox broadcaster, behind only Bob Elson. Born in Evergreen Park and raised on the South Side, he signed with the Cleveland Indians upon his graduation from St. Rita High School in 1967 and pitched in the major leagues from 1971 to 1983.

     The man who was affectionately known as "Farmio" began his broadcasting career on a part-time basis in 1991 and graduated to full-time status in 1992. He put in 14 years as the analyst (or "color commentator") and 14 years doing play-by-play. The last game he called was a Cactus League game in February, just over a month before his passing.

 

ED FARMER IN HIS PLAYING DAYS

 

Below is the complete list of White Sox broadcasters on radio.

Radio Stations

Various, 1924-1943

WIND, 1944

WJJD, 1945-1951

WCFL, 1952-1966

WMAQ, 1967-1970

WTAQ, 1971-1972

WMAQ, 1973-1979

WBBM, 1980-1981

WMAQ, 1982-1995

WMVP, 1996-2005

WSCR, 2006-2015

WLS, 2016-2017

WGN, 2018-present

 

Radio Play-by-Play

Hal Totten (WMAQ), 1926-1934

Bob Elson (WGN), 1930-1942

Jack Brickhouse (WGN), 1943

Bob Elson, 1944-1970

Harry Caray, 1971-1981

Joe McConnell, 1982-1984

Lorn Brown, 1985-1988

John Rooney, 1989-2005

Ed Farmer, 2006-2019

Andy Masur, 2020

 

Radio Analyst

Jack Brickhouse (WGN), 1940-1942

Jack Brickhouse, 1945

Dick Bingham, 1952

Don Wells, 1953-1960

Ralph Kiner, 1961

Milo Hamilton, 1962-1965

Bob Finnegan, 1966

Red Rush, 1967-1970

Ralph Faucher, 1971-1972

Gene Osborn, 1973

Bill Mercer, 1974-1975

Lorn Brown, 1976-1979

Jimmy Piersall, 1977-1980

Mary Shane, 1977

Joe McConnell, 1980-1981

Rich King, 1980-1981

Early Wynn, 1982-1983

Lorn Brown, 1983-1984

Del Crandall, 1985-1988

Wayne Hagin, 1989-1991

Ed Farmer, 1992-2005

Chris Singleton, 2006-2007

Steve Stone, 2008

Darrin Jackson, 2009-present