Hawk Harrelson: Rounding third and proud to be a homer

Over his 33 years in the Chicago White Sox's TV broadcast booth, Ken Harrelson has answered to the nickname of "Hawk."

Retiring at the end of the season, Harrelson wouldn't mind being tagged as "Homer."

"The biggest compliment you can pay me is calling me a homer, because I want these guys to win every game," Harrelson said.

In 2012, The Wall Street Journal studied every major-league announcer and determined Harrelson was baseball's biggest cheerleader.

"They did that survey on announcers and they came up with the homers and I was first, second and third in the survey," Harrelson said. "They called me the biggest homer in the history of baseball, and that's the biggest compliment you can pay me."

Before heading up to the booth and rooting for the White Sox Sunday afternoon, an overly emotional Harrelson was honored on the field.

"It's going to be a bittersweet day," said Harrelson, who was joined on the broadcast by former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski at Guaranteed Rate Field. "There's no way in the world I can get through this thing emotionally with my emotions. I'm an emotional guy, I've always been one. And I don't have enough time, I can tell you that, to say everything I want to say.

"I don't know what I'm going to say, so what comes out is going to come out, and it is what it is."

Taking the podium on the field, Harrelson addressed the crowd with, "So this is it, huh?"

There are still a few more games left on his schedule - Harrelson's last one will be Sept. 23 against the Cubs and he wants to again work with Pierzynski for the finale - but the end is drawing near for the iconic figure who will celebrate his 77th birthday on Tuesday.

"You can talk to generations of White Sox fans and it's the same," said Boston ace Chris Sale, who pitched for the White Sox from 2010-16. "You can ask guys around here (Red Sox) and on other teams and his one-liners, the 'He gone,' 'gas,' 'stretch,' you know, 'put it on the board,' all those things. They are fun. I think that's something people will remember throughout their whole lives. He's sitting right there in the living room with you every night if you are watching every night. Hard guy not to love."

Harrelson gave it right back to White Sox fans.

"I love them and I'll always love them," Harrelson said. "It's just that simple. I'll go to the grave with that."

Fighting off tears while talking to the media before the White Sox beat the Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, Harrelson said he was blessed and "it's been a great ride."

Rick Renteria is thrilled he got to know Harrelson the last three years, the first as the White Sox's bench coach and last two as manager.

"He's a very bright man, has a lot of insights in different facets of the game," Renteria said. "He's very outspoken. He's not going to hold back, which is good. I think all of us can take a little outspokenness every now and then. It's refreshing. It keeps us on our toes.

"The conversations we've had with him over the years have all been enlightening and fruitful. I'm glad I've had an opportunity to get to know him and to speak to him. I'm glad they're having the day for him. Good for him. He deserves it. We're grateful he's been a part of our lives. I know I am, and I'm sure everybody else is as well."