In January, John Rooney was having dinner in Arizona with a group that included White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. The reunion of the Sox’ 2005 World Series champions came up in conversation, and Rooney, who was the radio voice for that team, chimed in.
“I told Jerry, ‘If you’ll have me back, I’ll come,’ ’’ Rooney, now the Cardinals’ radio voice, said this week. “ ‘I’ll take off and come. That would mean a lot.’ And sure enough, I got the invitation, and I’m so honored by that.”
Rooney, who broadcast Sox games for 18 seasons, will be at Rate Field on Saturday, when the Sox celebrate the 20th anniversary of that team, which swept the Astros in the World Series. He’ll be on the field for the pregame ceremony along with former TV voice Ken “Hawk” Harrelson and his then-partner Darrin Jackson, now the radio analyst.
But it’s Rooney people hear when the local call of Game 4’s final out is played: “Here’s the 1-2 pitch to Palmeiro, a ground ball past Jenks up the middle of the infield, Uribe has it, he throws, out! Out! A White Sox winner, and a world championship! The White Sox have won the World Series, and they’re mobbing each other on the field!”
The call was also Rooney’s last with the Sox. Almost eight weeks before, the team had announced Rooney wouldn’t return in 2006. The Sox’ radio rights were moving from ESPN 1000 to The Score, whose salary offer appeared to be the impetus behind Rooney’s decision to leave.
At the time, Rooney tried to deflect the news, telling reporters that he wanted to enjoy the finish to the season and that the team was the story, not him. He echoed those sentiments this week.
“I prefer to just move on from all of that and remember all the good stuff about it,” Rooney said. “I remember [former Sun-Times reporter] Toni Ginnetti coming in and asking me around Sept. 1 when it all came out that I wasn’t coming back. And I’ll say this today just like I did 20 years ago, that it’s about the guys on the field. It’s their game; it’s their team. I’m just the broadcaster.”
But Rooney isn’t just a broadcaster. He’s a national voice with local appeal. While calling the Sox and Cardinals, Rooney worked for CBS Radio, for whom he called college basketball (including the Final Four for 19 years), college football, MLB All-Star Games and postseason series and the NFL. He even filled in on Bulls radio in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons.
Though Al Michaels drew more attention on ABC for narrating the earthquake that struck Candlestick Park before Game 3 of the 1989 World Series, Rooney was doing the same from the CBS Radio booth, where he was set to call the game with Johnny Bench and Jack Buck.
In 2005, Rooney was on the call with Ed Farmer, his partner of 14 years who died in 2020. Farmer had the street cred, growing up a Sox fan on the South Side and becoming a Sox All-Star in 1980. But Rooney, a Missouri native, endeared himself to the fans after arriving in 1988 to replace Don Drysdale on TV. Rooney moved to radio in ’89 alongside Wayne Hagin.
“It’s very welcoming when I come back,” said Rooney, who returns to Rate Field every other year with the Cardinals. “It’s nice to see a lot of friends who are still there. It’s different being one booth over for calling the games, but it’s still a great sight line. I always enjoyed calling games because we had a great view of the field. It was a really nice setup there.”
Rooney credits manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Ken Williams for setting up the 2005 team for success.
“What I remember most about 2005, Ozzie told Kenny, these are some things we need, and Kenny said, yes, I think we need this, too,” Rooney said. “They worked so well together and made it happen.
“Even when it got tight down the stretch [a 15-game lead on Aug. 1 whittled to 1½ games on Sept. 22], Ozzie, in his own way, he took the pressure off his players by putting a lot of it on him. And then they were able to take everything across the finish line.”
Rooney joined the Cardinals in 2006 and became the first major-league broadcaster to call consecutive championship seasons for different teams. The Cardinals beat the Tigers in the World Series in five games.
“I was on the stage after the parade in ’06 with [pitcher] Chris Carpenter, and before they threw it to us to do the interview on the big screen, he said, ‘Oh, you just show up, and you get a ring?’ ’’ Rooney said. “And I reminded him it took 18 years in Chicago to get one.”
After the Sox won, Rooney remembers joining the celebration on the field and being put in a headlock by Mark Buehrle. Rooney received a picture of it, and he had it blown up and autographed by Buehrle. He’ll get to reconnect with him Saturday.
“That was terrific, some great memories,” Rooney said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to come back this weekend to see the people that made that so special and relive some of those moments. It just became a point it was time to move on, and everything worked out very well.”
Remote patrol
In honor of former White Sox star Mark Buehrle’s statue unveiling, Chicago Sports Network will replay his 2009 perfect game at 4:30 p.m. Friday. CHSN also will have a full day of Sox programming Saturday, including a replay of the 2005 team’s World Series-winning victory at 11:30 a.m. The network will carry the reunion ceremony at 2:30 p.m.
• The Score will replay two Cubs classics during the All-Star break. The team’s flagship will air Game 6 of the 2016 National League Championship Series at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Game 7 of the 2016 World Series at 6 p.m. Thursday.
• The Sky’s game Saturday against the Lynx at Wintrust Arena will air nationally on ABC. Pam Ward, LaChina Robinson and Angel Gray will call it.
