| Ken Harrelson | |
|---|---|
Harrelson in 2010. |
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| First baseman / Right fielder | |
| Born: September 4, 1941 Woodruff, South Carolina |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| June 9, 1963 for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 20, 1971 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .239 |
| Home runs | 131 |
| Runs batted in | 421 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Kenneth Smith Harrelson (born September 4, 1941 in Woodruff, South Carolina), nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is a former All-Star first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball. He currently serves as a television broadcast announcer for the Chicago White Sox.
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Ken Harrelson and his family moved from Woodruff to Savannah, Georgia, when he was in fifth grade. As a child Harrelson was interested in basketball and he hoped to pursue a basketball scholarship from Kentucky. His own parents divorced when he was eight.[1]
He played golf, baseball, football and basketball at Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Georgia.
Throwing and batting right-handed, Harrelson played for four teams: the Kansas City Athletics (1963–66, 1967), Washington Senators (1966–67), Boston Red Sox (1967–69), and Cleveland Indians (1969–71). In his nine-season career, Harrelson was a .239 hitter with 131 home runs and 421 RBI in 900 games.
His time with the Athletics ended abruptly in 1967 when Harrelson angrily denounced team owner Charlie Finley following the dismissal of manager Alvin Dark. Saying that Finley was "a menace to baseball," Harrelson was released and ended up signing a lucrative deal with the Boston Red Sox, who were in contention to win their first pennant since 1946.
Brought in to replace the injured Tony Conigliaro, Harrelson helped the team win the pennant, but watched the team drop a close World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. However, in 1968, he had his finest season, making the American League All-Star team and leading the American League in runs batted in with 109. He also finished third in the American League Most Valuable Player balloting, with two Detroit Tigers finishing ahead of him: pitcher Denny McLain won the award, and catcher Bill Freehan finished second.
On April 19, 1969, Harrelson was traded to the Indians, a move that shocked him and led him to briefly retire. Following conversations with commissioner Bowie Kuhn and a contract adjustment by Cleveland, Harrelson reported to the team, finishing the year with 30 home runs. He also used his local celebrity to briefly host a half-hour program entitled, "The Hawk's Nest" on local CBS affiliate, WJW-TV.
During spring training the following year, Harrelson suffered a broken leg while sliding into second base during a March 19 exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics. The injury kept him on the sidelines for much of the season. When Indian rookie Chris Chambliss took control of the first base position in 1971, Harrelson retired midseason to pursue a professional golf career.
Harrelson is often credited with inventing the batting glove by wearing a golf glove while at bat with the A's; however, Peter Morris' book A Game of Inches says the batting glove may have been used as early as 1901 by Hughie Jennings, and were definitely used by Lefty O'Doul and Johnny Frederick of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932, and later by Bobby Thomson in the 1950s. Morris does credit Harrelson with reintroducing and popularizing the batting glove in the 1960s.
After his time on the links brought minimal compensation over the next few years, Harrelson turned to a broadcasting career, beginning in 1975 with the Red Sox on WSBK-TV, partnering with Dick Stockton.[2] He became highly popular, especially after being teamed with veteran play-by-play man Ned Martin in 1979, but after being publicly critical of player personnel decisions made by Boston co-owner Haywood Sullivan, Harrelson was fired at the close of the 1981 season.
Harrelson served as a Chicago White Sox announcer from 1982 to 1985 and briefly left broadcasting during the 1986 season to become the White Sox's General Manager. Many people questioned his work ethic as a GM because he was often found on the golf course instead of in the office. In addition, others questioned his personnel decisions. During that one season, Harrelson fired field manager Tony LaRussa (who was soon hired by the Oakland Athletics, whom he led to three consecutive AL pennants) and assistant general manager Dave Dombrowski (who became baseball's youngest general manager with the Montreal Expos just two years later). Harrelson also traded rookie Bobby Bonilla, later a six-time All-Star, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Jose DeLeon.
During the 1987–1988 seasons he was the play-by-play man for New York Yankees games on SportsChannel New York.[2]
In 1984, Harrelson served as a backup color commentator on NBC's Game of the Week broadcasts alongside play-by-play man Jay Randolph. In 1994, Harrelson served as a broadcaster for the short-lived Baseball Network and was the US broadcaster for the Japan Series that aired through the Prime-SportsChannel regional networks.[2]
Since 1990, he has served as the main play-by-play announcer for the White Sox television broadcasts teaming up with Tom Paciorek until 2000 and "DJ" Darrin Jackson from 2000 - 2008. In 2009, former Chicago Cubs color analyst Steve Stone, who broadcast with the late hall of fame broadcaster Harry Caray and later Chip Caray, began accompanying Harrelson in the television booth. During this time he won five Emmy Awards and two Illinois Sportscaster of the Year awards.[3] Harrelson has become known as one of the biggest "homer" (home-town enthusiast) broadcasters.
Harrelson is known for his catchphrases, also known as "Hawkisms". Popular "Hawkisms" include: "You can put it on the board! Yes! Yes!" after a Sox home run, "He gone!" and/or "Grab some bench!" after a strikeout of an opposing player, "Stretch!" when a White Sox player hits a ball that is moving towards the outfield fence. Hawk often states "Sacks packed with Sox," when the bases are loaded. Harrelson refers to the White Sox as "the good guys" (based on the team's mid-1990s slogan Good Guys Wear Black). When a White Sox player hits a ball which appears to be heading foul, Harrelson often states "Stay fair!". Hawk will state "Dagummet" when a ball that looks to be a home-run is caught short of the wall or in general when a play does not go the White Sox way. When a hitter hits a long foul ball that would have been a home run if it were fair, Hawk will say "right size, wrong shape." For a time Hawk often stated "Hell Yes" after an advantageous event for the White Sox occurs. While he insists that exclaiming "hell yes!" is not contrived and is a product of his devotion to the White Sox, it has generated some controversy.[4] He is also known for shouting out "Mercy!" after a great defensive play is executed by a player or players and sometimes, when it is an exceptionally great play, will also exclaim "You gotta be...bleeping me!" When a batter swings and misses he will proclaim, "big hack, no contact." Harrelson refers to a routine flyball as a "can of corn". He refers to a two hop infield ground ball as a "chopper-two-hopper." He calls a hard hit ground ball takes a favorable bounce up for the fielder a "Bollingbrook Bounce." When a White Sox rally starts, Hawk Harrelson will often enthusiastically say "Don't Stop Now Boys." In July 2010, GQ named Harrelson the worst announcer in baseball.
Though unpopular with some as a broadcaster due to his repeated use of catchphrases and obvious hometown allegiances, his popularity with the fans is demonstrable. Harrelson was nominated for the 2007 Ford C. Frick award (won by Royals announcer Denny Matthews), and his presence in the field of nominees for that award was due to the support of fans, who placed him in nomination (along with Cincinnati announcer Joe Nuxhall and San Francisco/Oakland announcer Bill King) via an online vote.[5]
Harrelson appears to have developed a dislike of umpire Joe West, who "in the past few years, has had some problems with the White Sox." West had started a game the night before, but called it due to rain after about a half inning of play. In a game earlier that year, West had ejected Ozzie Guillen and Mark Buehrle for two separate balks in the same game. Joe West is a controversial figure and issues regarding his style of referring a game is not limited to Harrelson or the White Sox.
Harrelson's emotive and particularly distinctive call of Mark Buehrle's perfect game on July 23, 2009 was also notable. As Buehrle exited the field after the eighth inning, he exclaimed, "Call your sons! Call your daughters! Call your friends! Call your neighbors! Mark Buehrle has a perfect game going into the ninth!" Also, as the final ground ball of the game rolled towards the White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, Harrelson called out "Alexei?!" (Harrelson often refers to the White Sox players by their first names.) As Ramirez completed the throw to the first baseman Josh Fields, Harrelson shouted "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! History!"[6]
Though some did not like Harrelson's lack of verbosity and obvious hometown boosterism at the concluding moment of the game,[7] others felt the outburst of emotion captured exactly what they were feeling as the perfect game was sealed.[8] A Chicago Tribune columnist, Phil Rosenthal, arguing that each perfect game call is "memorable in its own way", made an explicit comparison of Harrelson's call to Vin Scully's call of Sandy Koufax's perfect game.[9]
Harrelson had a special on CSN Chicago called "Put it on The Board" which aired on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 9:30pm CT that lasted 30 minutes celebrating his 25 years as a Chicago White Sox broadcaster with memorable footage, memorable quotes and an interview with CSN Chicago's Chuck Garfien. Ken said during the interview "I hope to be broadcasting for the White Sox until I die." He joked and said how he was going to die: in the White Sox broadcasting booth with his last words, "You can put it on the booooard... (dies without finishing)" Harrelson was honored with "Hawk Harrelson Night" by the Chicago White Sox for 25 years of broadcasting that was on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 vs. Detroit Tigers. The White Sox had a t-shirt giveaway for Harrelson for the first 10,000 fans that came to the game. The t-shirt has the White Sox logo on the front and in big letters on the back "Hawkism" with his famous catchphrases on the back also. Harrelson also threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
Harrelson coined many nicknames for popular Sox players, including "Black Jack" McDowell, Carlos "El Caballo" Lee, Lance "One Dog" Johnson, Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas, Craig "Little Hurt" Grebeck, "The Deacon" Warren Newson, "Big Bad" Bobby Jenks, "The Silent Assassin" Javier Vazquez, Herbert "the Milkman" Perry, Jake "The Jake-Meister" Peavy, Dayan "The Tank" Viciedo, Willie "Peapod" Harris, and Magglio "Maggs" Ordóñez, along with fan favorite "Big Dick" Richard Dotson. During a broadcast, Harrelson attempted to nickname partner Darrin Jackson "The Squirrel" because of the quantity of peanuts his partner ate, to which Jackson replied, "No." He calls his current partner Steve Stone "Stone Pony." The Stone Pony is one of the world's most popular music venues, but the term's connection to Steve Stone, other than to his last name, is unclear.
Harrelson is known to laud young players as the next big-thing. Hawk once called Jerry Sands the next Mickey Mantle and compared Carlos Gomez to Rickey Henderson.
While he was still in high school, Harrelson met his first wife, Betty Ann Pacifici, whom he would marry that year. The marriage produced four children (Patricia, Michael, Richard, and John), and three grandchildren (Nikole, Ryan and Kiefer).
In 1970, Harrelson was part-owner of a $2 million dollar waterfront nightclub in East Boston called the 1800 Club. A three-quarter sized replica of Donald McKay’s clipper ship Flying Cloud was docked next to the club and was used as a floating cocktail lounge. The location offered superb views of Boston Harbor and the downtown skyline. The complex was severely damaged by fire on January 20, 1971, and never re-opened.[10]
After retiring from baseball, Harrelson competed in the 1972 British Open. He missed the cut by 1 stroke, shooting +11.[11]
In 1973, Harrelson married Aris; they have two children, daughter Krista and son Casey, and two grandchildren, Nico and Alexander. His son Casey, who played in the White Sox minor league system in 1999, is currently a professional golfer. The family resides in Orlando, Fla.
Harrelson resides in Granger, Indiana during the MLB Season.
| Preceded by Carl Yastrzemski |
American League RBI Champion 1968 |
Succeeded by Harmon Killebrew |
| Preceded by Dean Chance |
AL Comeback Player of the Year 1968 |
Succeeded by Tony Conigliaro |
| Preceded by Roland Hemond |
Chicago White Sox General Manager 1985 |
Succeeded by Larry Himes |
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