BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox honored longtime radio voice Joe Castiglione, who called his final game Sunday, with an on-field pregame ceremony.
The 74-year-old Castiglione, who was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer with the Ford C. Frick Award, has been the team’s lead radio voice since 1983.
During the ceremony, the team played highlights of his calls over videos of the American League championship team in 1986, and Boston’s World Series title teams in 2004, ’07, ’13 and ’18 on the center-field scoreboard.
Members of those teams came onto the field during the ceremony. Hall of Famer Jim Rice highlighted the ’86 group and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez was one of the ’04 former players.
Castiglione referred to his call ending the ’04 championship that broke an 86-year title drought, when he thanked the fans. It came on a ground ball back to pitcher Keith Foulke, who was also there to represent that team.
“I will miss being your eyes and ears,” he said. “For 42 years, all I can say is: Can you believe it!”
Asked how he felt making the call of his final out — a liner to center by Tampa Bay's Richie Palacios that ended a 3-1 victory by the Red Sox, Castiglione said: “I was sort of numb. It sort of felt like the ninth inning in St. Louis in ‘04. ... It still really hasn’t set in, probably won't until next spring.”
Before the top of the eighth, the team ran a montage of his calls over highlights shown on the center-field scoreboard. When it was over, the entire Red Sox dugout emptied, with players, coaches and manager Alex Cora stepping onto the field, looking up and applauding toward him in the booth behind home plate.
“I had some moments, especially when Alex brought the players out,” Castiglione said.
Jackie Bradley, the 2018 ALCS MVP, caught a ceremonial first pitch from Castiglione.
“Forty-two years is a long, long time for someone to be working every single day to go through the struggles and the successes, the travel and the lifestyle, and always have a smile,” Martinez said. “Those are the kind of people that deserve all the respect that we are giving him today.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu handed him a proclamation declaring Sept. 29, 2024, as “Joe Castiglione Day” in Boston. Team President Sam Kennedy presented him with letters from Fenway Park’s infamous Green Monster that read: “CASTIG” in white with a green background color of the Monster.
Cora, a member of the ’07 team, was also on the field and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow, representing the ’13 squad, was on the field as well.
Castiglione signed off like he does each season, reading part of A. Bartlett Giamatti's “The Green Fields of the Mind.”
“I did right away, right after the game ended,” he said.
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This story has been corrected to show that Castiglione was honored with an award by the Hall of Fame, not inducted.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Ken Powtak, The Associated Press
