September 29, 2024 at 04:17 PM ET
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox honored longtime radio voice Joe Castiglione, calling his final game Sunday, with a pregame ceremony on the field.
Castiglione, 74, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer with the Ford C. Frick Award, has been the team’s main radio voice since 1983.
During the ceremony, the team displayed highlights of its video calls of the 1986 American League Championship team and Boston’s 2004, 2007, ’13 and ’18 World Series title teams on the scoreboard in center field.
Members of those teams took to the field during the ceremony. Hall of Famer Jim Rice highlighted the ’86 group and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez was one of the former players in 2004.
Photo by Maddy Meyer/Getty Images
Castiglione referred to his call to end the 2004 tournament, which ended an 86-year drought for the title, when he thanked the fans. A ground ball came to pitcher Keith Faulk, who was also there to represent this team.
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“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 when he made his final decision — a center fielder by Tampa Bay’s Richie Palacios that closed out a 3-1 win over the Red Sox, Castiglione said: “I was kind of numb. It kind of felt like the ninth inning in St. Louis.” 2004…it still hasn’t started, and it probably won’t happen until next spring.
Before the top of the eighth, the team ran a montage of its calls on the highlights shown on the center field scoreboard. When it was over, the Red Sox dugout was completely emptied, with players, coaches and manager Alex Cora taking the field, looking on and applauding him in the booth behind home plate.
“I had some moments, especially when Alex took the players out,” Castiglione said.
Jackie Bradley, the 2018 ALCS Player of the Year, got a ceremonial first pitch from Castiglione before a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
“42 years is a very long time for someone who works every day to go through the struggles and successes, the travel and the lifestyle, and always be smiling,” Martinez said. “These are the people who deserve all the respect we give him today.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu handed him a proclamation declaring September 29, 2024, “Joe Castiglione Day” in Boston. Team president Sam Kennedy presented him with letters from the famous Green Monster at Fenway Park which read: “CASTIG” in white with the monster’s green background color.
Cora, a member of the 2007 team, was also on the field and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, who represents the ’13 team, was also on the field.
Castiglione signed up as he does every season, reading part of the book “The Green Fields of the Mind” by A. Bartlett Giamatti.
“I did it immediately, right after the game,” he said.
