Steven Michael Stone (born July 14, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and current sportscaster and author.

In 1980, he was the AL Cy Young Award winner and an American League All Star, finishing the season with a record of 25–7 for the Baltimore Orioles.

He was WGN-TV's color commentator for Chicago Cubs broadcasts between 1983 and 2004, missing a couple of seasons late in his tenure due to health problems.

[12] Ron Fimrite mused in Sports Illustrated in May 1971 that Stone was "a Jewish intellectual … who just might be a right-handed (Sandy) Koufax.

[10] After suffering a sore arm, Stone was traded by the Giants with Ken Henderson to the Chicago White Sox for Tom Bradley on November 29, 1972.

[10] Stone was acquired along with Steve Swisher and Ken Frailing by the Chicago Cubs from the crosstown White Sox for Ron Santo on December 11, 1973.

[10] In November 1976, after suffering a torn rotator cuff and undertaking cryotherapy after refusing surgery and cortisone injections, he signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox for $60,000 ($407,000 today), turning down offers from four other teams.

When certain ones start creeping in, I erase them and make it like a blank blackboard waiting to be filled in with things like, 'The team is going to play well, is going to score some runs, I'm going to throw strikes, I'm going to win.'

[2][20][21][22] Through July 2011, Stone was third among Jewish pitchers in career wins (107) and strikeouts (1,065), behind Ken Holtzman and Sandy Koufax and directly ahead of Jason Marquis, and ninth in games pitched (320), behind Barry Latman.

"[24] Following his retirement, Stone was hired by ABC[25] to serve as a color commentator[26] for their Monday Night Baseball[27] telecasts.

In 1983, Stone became a color commentator for the WGN television broadcasts of the Chicago Cubs, teaming for 14 years with Hall of Fame announcer Harry Caray.

[31] On August 7, 1993, Stone provided commentary alongside Jim Kaat for a Cubs game against the St. Louis Cardinals for CBS.

One reason he was so well-liked was his ability to accurately predict what might happen in various game situations, explaining to the audience why the strategy or pitch would be successful prior to the play.

A famous example of this was him expressing "I wouldn't pitch to this guy" in a 2004 game, seconds before the batter (Adam Dunn) hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Mike Remlinger to give the Cincinnati Reds the lead.

At one point during the 2004 season, Kent Mercker called the broadcast booth from the bullpen during a game to complain about comments made, also confronting Stone in a hotel lobby.

[34] Among the comments that reportedly irked Mercker were Chip Caray's praise of Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt.

[37] In early 2005 Stone was hired by Chicago radio station WSCR to provide commentary and host a weekly talk show, hosted on Mondays by Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein, on Tuesdays by Mike North, and on Thursdays by Brian Hanley and Mike Mulligan.

On March 4, 2008, Stone was named the color commentator for White Sox radio broadcasts for the 2008 season on WSCR AM670 The Score, replacing Chris Singleton, who moved to ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

On September 13, 2008, Stone accepted the job as the color commentator for White Sox television broadcasts for six years beginning with the 2009 season.

Benetti, widely recognized as one of the best play-by-play announcers in the MLB, left the White Sox booth after the 2023 season to become the Tigers play-by-play announcer, citing a disrespectful remark from the team's chief revenue and marketing officer Brooks Boyer as an example of his strained relationship with the team's front office.

In his words, "They signed me to a contract that will pretty much ensure when I do decide to retire, it will be as a member of the Chicago White Sox organization.