CHICAGO -- Brooke Fletcher has never gone skydiving.
But her last-minute move into the CHSN television broadcast booth as the game analyst for Tuesday night’s 2-1 White Sox victory over the Guardians gave her that same sense of nerves combined with pure exhilaration.
“It was an awesome experience,” said Fletcher prior to Wednesday’s series finale. “The fact is that when [executive vice president] Brooks [Boyer] first told me I was a little hesitant, just because it is such a new thing and a big responsibility.
“My dad always says just take the bull by the horns and approach everything with a lot of courage. That was his mindset as a player, was just to be that grinder and that competitor. Hopefully, I inspired maybe my future daughter one day or girls watching that. Even though you might be in a situation where it feels scary at first, you’d be surprised what you’re capable of doing.”
Fletcher became the first woman in White Sox history to work a full game as an analyst, joining play-by-play voice John Schriffen. Mary Shane did play-by-play work for the White Sox in 1977.
Her dad, Scott, played six of his 15 years with the White Sox and will be in town this weekend for the 1983 American League West champion reunion to take place Saturday. Gordon Beckham, who is Fletcher’s brother-in-law, played seven of his 11 years with the White Sox and will be a participant in the organization’s first-ever Alumni Home Run Derby on July 11.
Beckham also does good work as a part-time CHSN analyst and used his work to highlight the impressive night for Fletcher.
“To reinforce how well she actually did, [chairman] Jerry Reinsdorf texted me the following after the game, ‘Have you ever heard of Wally Pipp?’’ Beckham told MLB.com via text, sharing Reinsdorf’s humorous reference of the Yankees player who never got his job back after being famously replaced by Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig. “Our whole family is super proud of her.
“I thought Brooke did a great job on air. What she accomplished and how well she did is a testament to how good she is at her job. She had barely any prep time and crushed it.”
Round 2 came Wednesday for Fletcher, as Steve Stone, one of the top analysts in the business, remained under the weather. With Thursday’s off-day, the White Sox hope to have Stone back in the booth Friday for the series opener against the Royals with Fletcher moving back to her sideline role.
“Steve is OK. He’ll be back. This is not a permanent thing,” Fletcher said. “I’m just grateful that the White Sox believe in me and thought that I would be able to answer the call and step up. … I’ve always had respect for the analyst and the guys in the booth.
“But I think that was my first time actually being up there for it and actually seeing the behind the scenes of what goes into a game. So not only are you calling the game, but you’re also dealing with replays and promos and little things like that. There’s a lot of moving parts. I have a lot of respect for the guys up there. They bring it consistently day in, day out.
“There’s only a few moments of my life, when I got engaged and doing this, where I felt like you just gotta go for it,” Fletcher added. “And it always turns out to be the best. So just thankful for the opportunity.”
Fletcher has grown accustomed to seeing herself on the sideline, but doesn’t like watching herself and didn’t rewatch the broadcast. She heard from many friends and followers, praising her work.
“I got a lot of texts and a lot of calls. And I was really appreciative of everybody being so supportive,” Fletcher said. “It really meant a lot, especially with some women in this industry that I really look up to: Jenny Cavnar and Alanna Rizzo.
“Melanie Newman reached out. Melanie was great; I worked with her at Apple a few years ago, and she was just like, ‘I’m so excited for you.’ Just being able to have the support of the women in this industry really means a lot.”