The Boston Red Sox held an on-field pregame ceremony in honor of legendary radio voice Joe Castiglione, who called his final game on Sunday.
The 77-year-old Castiglione has been the team’s primary radio voice since 1983. He was recognized this summer by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award. Highlights of his calls were shown during the ceremony on the center-field scoreboard, which also featured footage of Boston’s World Series championship teams in 2004, 2007, 13, and 18.
Throughout the ceremony, players from those teams entered the field. The ’86 group was led by Hall of Famer Jim Rice, while the ’04 squad included Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. Castiglione mentioned his call to the supporters after the 2004 championship, which ended an 86-year title drought. Pitcher Keith Foulke, who was also present to represent that side, received the ball on a ground ball.
He remarked, “I will miss being your eyes and ears.” “After 42 years, I just have one thing to say: Wow!” Castiglione responded, “I was sort of numb,” when asked how he felt after calling his final out, a liner to center by Tampa Bay’s Richie Palacios that concluded the Red Sox’s 3-1 triumph. It was like being in the ninth inning in 2004 in St. Louis. It hasn’t really set in yet and most likely won’t till spring of next year.
The team played a montage of his calls over center-field scoreboard highlights prior to the start of the eighth inning. As soon as it ended, the Red Sox dugout was cleared out, and Alex Cora, the manager, the coaches, and the players all stepped onto the field, grinning and cheering for him from the booth behind home plate. Castiglione remarked, “I had a few moments, especially when Alex brought the players out.” The ALCS MVP for 2018 Jackie Bradley was hit by a ceremonial first pitch from Castiglione.
According to Martinez, 42 years is a very long period to work every day, experience both success and failure, travel and lead a luxurious lifestyle, and always maintain a grin. “He deserves all the respect we are showing him today because those are the kind of people.”
He was given a proclamation by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu designating September 29, 2024, as “Joe Castiglione Day” in Boston. Sam Kennedy, the team president, gave him letters from the notorious Green Monster at Fenway Park that said, “CASTIG,” in white on the Monster’s green backdrop. Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow represented the ’13 team, while Cora, a member of the ’07 team, was also present on the field. As he does every season, Castiglione concluded by reading a passage from “The Green Fields of the Mind” by A. Bartlett Giamatti.
The original story has been updated to reflect that Castiglione received an award from the Hall of Fame rather than being inducted.
