It was 2001 when 18-year-old Benetti loaded his car and began a 10-hour drive from Homewood, Ill., to Syracuse, N.Y. Before this, the Illinois native had hardly ever left Chicagoland. The few getaways were usually quick jaunts to Elkhart Lake, Wis., to catch Indy car races. The pursuit of becoming a sports broadcaster meant leaving home and embarking on something foreign, uncomfortable and frightening.

“It was the hardest day of my life to that point,” Benetti said Thursday, “to get in that car and leave Chicago. And it hurt. And the other day, when I knew that this was very much a distinct possibility, I had that same feeling. Like, ‘Wow, I’m getting in the car again and I am going to Syracuse University.’”

Rather than setting off to college, Benetti was this time entertaining arguably his biggest career change to date. He flew into Detroit to interview for the new play-by-play voice of the Detroit Tigers. As Benetti explained it, Bally Sports Detroit had inquired with Benetti’s agent, asking if he would be interested in the job. The Tigers then reached out to Jerry Reinsdorf and the Chicago White Sox for permission to interview Benetti. Permission was granted, and the wheels for a stunning change were set in motion.

Thursday, the organization officially introduced Benetti as the new TV voice of the Detroit Tigers. And as signs of a brighter future on the field are coming into focus, the 40-year-old Benetti will be part of ushering in a new era of Tigers baseball.

“I got on a plane to come here because in the interview process, I felt and knew,” Benetti said. “It was just a feeling. I knew that I was surrounded by people who want to be so extraordinarily great and forward-thinking, and do this in a smart, analytical way that is just beyond the scope of anything I would have expected in terms of what they also want from their television announcer.”

He might be the Tigers’ most popular acquisition in years.