This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- Give credit to Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope for imparting important wisdom to broadcaster John Schriffen that will be useable in his second year as the television play-by-play voice of the Chicago White Sox.
In fact, the wisdom can be used by Schriffen as a guidepost for life in general.
“[Pope] does something very unique in that he has something called a gratitude circle,” Schriffen told me during a Monday afternoon phone interview. “His players go around and say something they are grateful for. He said, ‘You cannot be more happy than you are grateful.’ And that is something that really resonated with me.
“I’m really working on just finding the little bit of gratitude in every situation I’m dealing with: Even if I’m delayed in an airport or whatever it may be. My bag goes missing. Just find something you are grateful for so you can still be happy in tough situations. That’s what I did kind of reflecting back on the season.”
The 2024 campaign was a forgettable but much discussed run for the White Sox, where their 121 losses set a single-season Modern Era record (since 1901). It was that sort of tough season playing out in front of Schriffen as part of his first full-time year with a big league team.
There were critiques of Schriffen, but those critiques included Schriffen himself. His self-reflection came amidst that gratitude for working with an expert and supportive analyst in Steve Stone, the accessibility of White Sox players despite the tough times and the simple fact of having such a great opportunity.
“I knew I came in hot,” said Schriffen of 2024. “I was excited to have the job, my first Major League job, full time with a team, and I was super hyped, super excited.
“Maybe the tone of some of the games was a little off and I was a little too excited. Going into the next season I know I have a better understanding of just kind of the tone that I want to take with broadcasts.”
This criticism came with Schriffen before people really heard his work. As Schriffen pointed out, there was understandable frustration over what had been taking place with the team, but Schriffen still took it too personally, by his own admission.
“Something that I’ve really worked on is finding that internal confidence,” Schriffen said. “I was reading a lot of things. I was listening to a lot of things. I was trying to impress too many people.
“Now I’ve got to the point where I just don’t care what people think about me. When you search for that external validation, you are always going to be in trouble. That’s something I’ve really started to work on for this new year.”
There were times during the ’24 season where Schriffen’s genuinely upbeat and high-energy nature seemed somewhat incongruent with what was transpiring on the field. Andrew Benintendi hits a walk-off home run? Well, it was great news in the moment for the White Sox but also a small microcosm from an overall picture.
Frequent interactions with White Sox fans -- whether it was at pregame tailgates, at the gym or just being out in Chicago -- reaffirmed Schriffen’s belief there was no reason for a wholesale broadcasting style change.
“Every time I would go out, people would come up to me and said, ‘Please, do not listen to the people who are telling you to stop and tone it down. We love that excitement. We love that passion from you. That’s what we look for and know that we are in this with you. Please keep doing what you are doing,’” Schriffen said. “The interactions that mean the most are the one-on-one interactions I have with people in person.
“That’s the feedback I’m taking nowadays. So when I heard those kinds of things, it is encouraging. That’s my style. That’s who I am. I’m never going to change. It’s like, ‘OK. I just have to keep going and finetune things.’”
Following Monday’s interview, Schriffen departed his Las Vegas home to call the game between No. 15 Mississippi State at No. 1 Auburn tonight. He’s grateful to currently work top Southeastern Conference hoops contests, but also is more comfortable, confident and excited as he refreshes and almost restarts for the 2025 White Sox season.
“At least I know all the people behind the scenes now and I can hit the ground running from that standpoint. It will be a lot smoother going into Year 2,” Schriffen said. “Personally, I grew a lot from Year 1. I know I’m a better person and a better broadcaster for it.”