He (almost) gone.
Longtime Chicago White Sox broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson revealed to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times Thursday that he plans to significantly reduce his schedule following the 2017 season, making this year the likely final full-time go-around for the former player and South Side icon.
As he did last season, Harrelson will only call White Sox road games in 2017, out of a desire to spend more time with his family.
The 75-year-old, both beloved and derided in all corners of baseball for his "homer" style and openly displaying his unabashed love for the White Sox on the air, is under contract with the club through 2020. Harrelson hinted that he could fulfill the end of his current deal by working in other roles with the club after this season - perhaps as a team ambassador of some sort - while only making an occasional cameo appearance in the booth.
"I didn't say I wanted to broadcast four more years," Harrelson told Van Schouwen. "The main thing is I just want to be in baseball four more years, not necessarily broadcasting."
Harrelson, who started his baseball career as a minor-league player in 1959, made his big-league debut with the Kansas City Athletics in 1963. If he reaches the 2020 season under contract to the White Sox in some capacity, he'll become one of a select few men to have worked in baseball for eight decades - a list that Harrelson noted includes the likes of Vin Scully and Don Zimmer.
Harrelson made one All-Star team during his nine-year playing career, and was a member of the pennant-winning "Impossible Dream" Boston Red Sox in 1967. After starting his broadcasting career in Boston he moved to the White Sox booth in 1982, and - with the exception of an ill-fated stint as White Sox general manager in 1986, and two years (1987-88) calling New York Yankees games - has remained their voice ever since.
