Jason Benetti becomes voice of Detroit Tigers with Syracuse, Magglio Ordóñez on his mind

Jason Benetti loves Chicago.

Benetti lived in Homewood, Illinois — just 25 miles south of Chicago — for the first 18 years of his life. He went on vacations with his family, but he didn't attend summer camps and didn't leave Chicago on his own, not until graduating high school.

"I was Chicago, through and through," Benetti said.

Benetti, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a toddler, discovered his passion for sports broadcasting, dreamed of calling baseball games for the Chicago White Sox and, as a 2001 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, set out for Syracuse in New York state to pursue his lifelong goals.

He remembers that day, 22 years ago, vividly.

"It was the hardest day of my life to that point, to get in the car and leave Chicago, and it hurt," Benetti said.

Benetti, now 40, is the new television play-by-play broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers.

"The other day, when I knew that this was very much a distinct possibility, I had the same feeling, like, 'Wow, I am getting in the car again, and I am going to Syracuse University.'"

THE HIRE: Jason Benetti signs multi-year contract with Tigers as TV play-by-play broadcaster

He spent the past eight seasons calling games for the Chicago White Sox, achieving his childhood dream job and becoming one of the best in the business. The Tigers targeted him as a coveted candidate, received permission from the White Sox to interview him and lured him away from his beloved Windy City.

The Tigers officially hired Benetti, who replaces Matt Shepard, on Thursday morning, agreeing to a multi-year contract. He will be employed by the Tigers — unlike Shepard or his predecessor, Mario Impemba — rather than Bally Sports Detroit and call a minimum of 127 games per season, beginning in 2024. He still has national assignments with Fox Sports.

When Benetti has national duties, the Tigers will move radio play-by-play broadcaster Dan Dickerson into the TV booth. The plan for the rest of the TV broadcast team remains unknown, but the Tigers got their desired play-by-play guy and boast one of the best TV-radio combos in the sport.

"We were looking for somebody who can take our broadcast to the next level," said Ryan Gustafson, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment. "Jason is a world-class talent. There's no doubt about that."

MORE ABOUT HIM: Who is Jason Benetti? Meet the Tigers new TV broadcaster with inspiring backstory

Getting Benetti, a lifelong Chicagoan, to Detroit in November 2023 started with Benetti driving to Syracuse University in August 2001 for his freshman year of college.

He has traveled all over the country, and to other countries, since then.

"The reason I went to Syracuse is because I wanted to be surrounded by people who loved what I loved at the time," Benetti said. "That was being a student of play-by-play and being somebody who got to be around people who wanted to be students of play-by-play."

Benetti lived in New York and graduated from Syracuse's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2005 with bachelor's degrees in broadcast journalism, economics and psychology. He also lived in North Carolina and earned a law degree from Wake Forest.

Soon, Benetti is going to live in Detroit as the voice of the Tigers.

"I'm never going to not have Chicago in my heart because I love it," Benetti said, "but I love the people that brought me here, and I know, like the sensibility of Detroit, I know, I know, I know we're going to get along well."

BEFORE BENETTI: Matt Shepard won't return as Tigers play-by-play broadcaster on Bally Sports Detroit

After moving on from Shepard, the Tigers reached out to Benetti's agent to gauge his interest in the open position. (In recent years, the White Sox didn't like that he had to miss some games due to his national assignments.) Still, the Tigers had to receive permission from the White Sox — specifically owner Jerry Reinsdorf — to go through the interview process because Benetti had one year remaining on his contract.

Benetti talked at least twice with the Tigers officials via video conference calls, then traveled to Detroit for an in-person meeting. He returned to Comerica Park on Thursday to formally join the Tigers.

"In the interview process, I knew that I was surrounded by people who want to be so extraordinarily great," Benetti said. "They wanted me, and I wanted them just as much because of how they feel about moving forward and what this franchise wants to do in terms of intelligent baseball, but also the fanbase."

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When Benetti woke up Thursday, the first person he thought about was Magglio Ordóñez.

It had nothing to do with Ordóñez's legendary grand slam to send the Tigers to the 2006 World Series. Rather, it had everything to do with Ordóñez leaving the White Sox in 2004 and signing a multi-year contract in Detroit ahead of the 2005 season.

After Ordóñez, Benetti thought about Freddie Freeman.

Freeman spent the first 12 years of his career with the Atlanta Braves before signing a multi-year contract to join the Los Angeles Dodgers. Freeman cried during his emotional return-to-Atlanta press conference in June 2022.

"It's a very bittersweet day," Benetti said.

But Benetti is also reminded of a familiar journey in his own life, the one where he drove from Chicago to New York in pursuit of the profession he loved.

The parallels between then and now are evident.

Except this time, Benetti boarded a plane in the Windy City and ended up in the Motor City.

"There are fans here that want to win badly, and they want to enjoy winning," Benetti said. "That is a challenge and a surrounding area that feels a lot like something I did that was one of the greatest decisions of my life 20 years ago, so that's why I'm here."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers have a new voice in Jason Benetti, a Chicagoland native