When Jason Benetti is on the call for a Tigers broadcast, his quick wit and layered wordplay usually land right at home—his regular booth crew knows the rhythm, the inside jokes, and the quirky references. But drop him into a national broadcast with a partner like A.J. Pierzynski, and those clever turns suddenly play more like curveballs in the dirt. From puns that circle back three innings later to obscure pop culture nods (including a left-field Sonny and Cher/“Groundhog Day” mashup), Benetti’s style leaves local fans chuckling while a broader audience—and his boothmate—scramble to keep up. The result is equal parts sharp, strange, and slightly surreal.
*** Now chatting in #NationalBroadcastBooth ***
JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay: welcome everyone to tonight’s Tigers–Royals matchup
it’s a real “Groundhog Day” situation
except instead of Sonny and Cher, it’s Kahnle and Holton
and the alarm clock goes off every day with another blown save
AJConfused: …what?
what alarm clock
are we talking about the pitching clock?
wait what does Cher have to do with this game
and why is Bill Murray here
JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay: it’s a metaphor, AJ
time loops, nostalgia, repetition, Central Division baseball, cyclical futility
just like Tigers fans reliving every bullpen collapse
I assumed you’ve seen Groundhog Day
AJConfused: i don’t… i don’t know what you’re talking about
i was busy actually PLAYING baseball when that movie came out
*** HEY GUYS THIS IS JI
*** JIM THOME has entered the chat ***
WORDUPTHOME: HEY GUYS THIS IS JI
JIM THOME
WORDUPTHOME: I SAW GROUNDHOG DAY
I THINK I STRUCK OUT TO THE SAME PITCHER 5 TIMES IN A ROW
DOES THAT COUNT
JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay: finally someone who appreciates the delicate marriage of baseball and 90s pop culture
thank you jim, truly the cher to my sonny
…although now i realize that makes me the one with the weird mustache
so maybe we reverse it
AJConfused: i thought i was coming here to talk about pitch sequencing
now i’m knee-deep in Sonny and Cher fan club trivia
national TV, folks
*** MLB_NewsBot has entered the chat ***
MLB_NewsBot: Tigers and Royals tied 1-1, bottom of the 7th
Broadcast team currently in a heated discussion about Cher’s place in baseball
Viewers divided between “delightful wit” and “deep confusion”
JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay: here’s another one for you, AJ — this lineup is stickier than a grocery aisle honey spill
but it’s hard to find the sweet spot
*** pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth has entered the chat ***
pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: benetti you speak in riddles
i have pHd in throwing chairs and i don’t get it
JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay: that’s fine, farnsworth
my puns are like changeups
you don’t have to understand them, you just have to watch people flail
AJConfused: can we just talk about the actual game
like the royals dropped a pop-up
maybe that’s the story?
JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay: ah yes, a popup dropped in Kansas City
if a ball falls in Kauffman and no one fields it, does it still count as an error?
spoiler: yes
AJConfused: this is gonna be a long night
*** WORDUPTHOME has left singing “I GOT YOU, BABE” into the dugout phone ***
*** pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth has left to throw a chair at a VCR copy of Groundhog Day ***
*** AJConfused has left still wondering if Cher was the groundhog ***
*** JasonBenetti_PlayByPlay has left to find a more obscure 70s reference for the 7th inning stretch ***