As a critically acclaimed Major League Baseball voice for 15 years, including eight as the TV voice of the Chicago White Sox, Jason Benetti is the lead play-by-play announcer for NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball and the TV voice for the Detroit Tigers.

Known for his sharp, quick-witted commentary, Benetti has built a national profile across multiple sports. He also is the only major network play-by-play announcer in the country who lives with cerebral palsy.

In conversation with Chicago Sports Network anchor and reporter Chuck Garfien, Benetti will reflect on his inspiring journey and unending love of the game when he comes to Elmhurst University on October 29 to give the Roland Quest Lecture “Swinging for the Fences: An Evening with Jason Benetti.”

A Chicago native, Benetti joined NBC Sports full-time in March, handling the Sunday Night Baseball primetime package on NBC and Peacock. He is also in his third season as the regular TV play-by-play voice of the Detroit Tigers. Previously, he was the primary television voice for the White Sox from 2016 to 2023 and also spent four years at Fox Sports and 11 years at ESPN as a play-by-play announcer for football, basketball and baseball. Benetti and his work have been featured by The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, The Washington Post and CNN, among other outlets. He also serves as an ambassador for the New York-based Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

Garfien hosts pre-game and post-game White Sox shows with Ozzie Guillén, Frank Thomas and other former White Sox players. Since joining Chicago Sports Network’s predecessor, NBC Sports Chicago, in 2004, Garfien has won six Chicago/Midwest Emmy awards for feature stories on Chicago sports.

The Roland Quest Lecture “Swinging for the Fences: An Evening with Jason Benetti” begins at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 29, in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Admission is $15 but is free for all Elmhurst University students, faculty, staff and alumni. The public lectures and other cultural programming at Elmhurst University support community engagement and lifelong learning, and prepare our students to thrive as adaptive leaders. To learn more and reserve tickets, visit elmhurst.edu/Cultural. For questions, email [email protected].