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Bill Walton Takes Over White Sox Broadcast: 'I've Been Dead for Quite a Few Years'

Walton took a small departure from the world of Pac-12 hoops on Friday's broadcast of White Sox vs. Angels.

Michael Shapiro

Bill Walton Takes Over White Sox Broadcast: 'I've Been Dead for Quite a Few Years'
Bill Walton Takes Over White Sox Broadcast: 'I've Been Dead for Quite a Few Years' /

NBA Hall-of-Famer and college basketball broadcasting sensation Bill Walton took a turn at baseball announcing on Friday, and the results were, well, exactly what you'd expect.

Walton completely hijacked NBC Sports Chicago's broadcast of White Sox vs. Angels in typical Walton fashion. He compared White Sox starter Lucas Giolito to Dodgers legend Don Drysdale, and was pleasantly surprised at a foul ball.

With Mike Trout hitting, play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti was explaining to Walton how Lucas Giolito and other pitchers use pitch tracking technology to improve and craft their pitches when Giolito hits Trout with a pitch in the arm. Here's how the conversation in the White Sox broadcast booth played out:

Walton: "Woah, he hit him in the head! You can't do that. Please."

Benetti: "He didn't mean to."

Walton: "How do you know? You're sitting up here. You ever been hit in the head before? Where's that bat?"

Benetti: "I feel like I have... Let's look again. It got him in the arm."

Walton also asked Benetti if he'd ever been to the pyramids of Egypt, which Walton apparently visited with the Grateful Dead. Friday is also Grateful Dead tribute night at multiple big-league stadiums to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their performance at Woodstock, with Dead Head Walton and Benetti wearing tie dye t-shirts.

Walton also asked how many innings were in a game and demonstrated how to throw a changeup. And all this was just what he said in the first inning.

There are too many Walton tidbits to note them, so we'll let you see for yourself. We're updating this post with some of our favorite Walton gems throughout the broadcast.

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We don't know when we'll see Walton next before college basketball season, so you should tune in to see him when you still can. Perhaps Walton can transition to baseball full-time as well as his duties calling Pac-12 hoops.

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Michael Shapiro
MICHAEL SHAPIRO

Michael Shapiro is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated. He is a Denver native and 2018 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin.

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