The feud between Chicago White Sox play-by-play voice John Schriffen and local Chicago sports radio station 670 The Score continues to score on.
Perhaps it’s because the White Sox are flirting with 1962 New York Mets futility, but there seems to be more fireworks in the confines of this feud than what’s transpired at Guaranteed Rate Field throughout the season.
Schriffen is no stranger to criticism; he’s received some from fans, and he and Steve Stone ranked dead last in Awful Announcing’s local MLB announcer rankings for the 2024 MLB season. He’s also received a lot of criticism from some of the voices on 670 The Score, particularly that of Shane Riordan.
Schiffren was ready to throw hands for Tommy Pham earlier this season, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s continued to put himself in the line of fire. The most recent instance was him taking aim at some of Riordan’s reporting, which called the team’s clubhouse “fractured.”
REPORT: the #WhiteSox clubhouse is fractured.
The first game back from All-Star break, manager Pedro Grifol told his team (paraphrasing) that “if this goes down as one of the worst seasons ever, it’s on absolutely NO ONE but the players.”
Also, RUNNING & BP have been madated.
— Shane Riordan (@shane_riordan) July 30, 2024
“Gavin has been a huge clubhouse voice, especially recently there was a, I don’t want to call it an article, a statement,” Schiffren said while seemingly referring to Gavin Sheets. “It was just bad reporting put out there that Pedro Grifol had lost the clubhouse. Basically saying that Pedro Grifol made some statements about ‘If this losing streak happens, it’s on the team.’ It never happened. It was purely awful reporting by a non-reporter. And a radio station in town went with it because that’s what they do.
“Gavin spoke up for Pedro. He said, ‘That’s not what happened. That’s not true. And it was taken out of context.’ And even though nobody wants to be in this situation, it just shows how this team is still together as one unit, trying to get out of it together.”
The Schriffen vs. 670 The Score battle rages on:@shane_riordan | #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/68YhCVjUT5
— Jason Lowenthal (@JasonLowenthal_) August 4, 2024
Riordan offered a rebuttal on social media:
You are not correct, John. But do your thing, my man! https://t.co/vs3NJnctyk
— Shane Riordan (@shane_riordan) August 4, 2024
And there was more from that during Monday’s show.
“I am just tired of it, man,” Riordan said. “I’m tired of it. And if the White Sox were good, we wouldn’t have to deal with any of this. I wouldn’t care if John Schriffen’s good at his job…”
The @ParkinsSpiegel crew responds to @JohnSchriffen‘s claim that they had “bad reporting” regarding the White Sox’s clubhouse dynamics and how players received Pedro Grifol’s motivational tactics in a speech of his.
Listen to full segment: https://t.co/OXr5EiI2Lo pic.twitter.com/KiRdY4tSBh
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) August 5, 2024
The crux of Riordan’s argument was that he wouldn’t risk his credibility by reporting false information. Despite not being a journalist in the traditional sense, he went through what Danny Parkins described as the proper journalism avenues. It’s worth noting that the Parkins & Spiegel Show has a track record of successfully reporting news this year alone.
The war of words between Schriffen and 670 The Score is far from over. Given Schriffen’s clear animosity towards the radio station and the lack of mutual respect, this conflict appears destined to continue.
