Len Kasper

Len Kasper is starting his sixth season as the Chicago White Sox’s radio play-by-play announcer after 16 years as the Cubs’ TV play-by-play guy, but he’s got another passion: playing bass and writing songs for his band Sonic45. This Chicago all-star five-piece, which features recent Caropop guest Dag Juhlin on guitar, made its debut performance after my 2019 “Talking in Space” conversation with Kasper. Since then, the band, which has had a name change that he explains, has released two albums: Space and Time (2021) and SuperSonic (2024). The sound is muscular and swirling while Kasper’s lyrics are vulnerable and revealing. Kasper is open here as well as he discusses whether he dreamt more of being a baseball announcer, player or musician; how the Cubs’ “Hot Stove Cool Music” charity concerts fueled his music career; whether he considered singing in Sonic45; and whether it was coincidental that he took the White Sox radio job weeks after Theo Epstein left the Cubs. (Photo by Katrina Vlasich)