The Chicago White Sox are feeling the loss of one of their dearest family members. Former White Sox pitcher and longtime radio broadcaster Ed Farmer died on Wednesday. He was 70.
The farmer was born in Evergreen Park on Oct.18,1949, the second-oldest of nine children. He went to his first WhiteSox game at old Comiskey Park when he was 5 years old. It was at that game he told his mother, “Someday, I’m going to play here.”
Two decades later, the South Sider not only fulfilled his childhood dream of playing for the White Sox, but he’d also make the 1980 All-Star team, pitching two-thirds of an inning at Dodger Stadium. Those two outs came on one pitch to Pete Rose, who hit into a double play.
Farmer set career-highs in saves (30) and wins (7) that season. He pitched 11 years in the majors, three with the whiteSox (1979-81).
Although he went on to call White Sox games after his playing days were over, Farmer actually had trouble speaking like a child and struggled to pronounce words.
“Baseball was a way for me to break through that barrier and have people notice me,” Farmer said in an interview with SoxTv in 2019.
He first joined the White Sox radio booth in 1990 and assumed play-by-play duties 14 years ago, with Darrin Jackson serving as his partner during that time.
“My heart is broken, but my mind is at peace knowing my dear friend is no longer suffering,” Jackson said in a statement. “Ed was a competitor who also was everyone’s best friend. I saw first-hand how hard Ed fought each and every day and season after season to keep himself healthy and prepared to broadcast White Sox baseball.”
He was also on the call when the White Sox won their first World Series in 88 years in 2005, exclaiming. “This is as good as it gets. The Sox are World Series Champions, and Chicago: Go crazy!”
