NASHVILLE — Joe Castiglione goes to Cooperstown. Can you imagine it?
The longtime Red Sox radio broadcaster has been chosen because the 2024 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, introduced yearly for excellence in broadcast by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Castiglione shall be honored in Cooperstown as a part of Hall of Fame Weekend this coming July.
“It was really a can you believe it moment, you never dream of these things when you’re starting,” Castiglione stated following the announcement. “My first goal was to do Major League Baseball, my second goal was to do a World Series, then to win a World Series, but something like this was never on my radar.”
Castiglione not too long ago wrapped up his forty first season calling Red Sox baseball on the radio. Prior to coming to Boston the Hamden, Connecticut, native started his profession at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio and finally acquired his first MLB alternative calling Cleveland Indians video games in 1979. He then labored Brewers video games in 1981 and returned to the Indians sales space in 1982 earlier than becoming a member of the Red Sox broadcast the next yr.
“Bringing knowledge and passion to the booth every day for more than four decades, Joe Castiglione has given voice to the greatest era of Red Sox success in the broadcast era,” stated Josh Rawitch, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in a press release. “Starting with the team in 1983 in Carl Yastrzemski’s final season, Joe has connected generations of Red Sox fans with a delivery that has become part of the New England fabric. His calls of the team’s four World Series wins in the past 20 seasons provided fans with memories that will echo forever throughout Red Sox nation.”
Castiglione has been a finalist for the Frick Award 3 times earlier than and eventually broke by means of after what he admitted was a disturbing wait. He described a busy scene at his home within the hours main as much as the announcement, saying he had a fridge delivered and by chance hung up on the Hall of Fame after they initially known as.
Once the information went public he says dozens of mates and colleagues reached out to congratulate him, amongst them former Red Sox gamers Mike Lowell, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Roger Clemens. Even given his lengthy and storied profession, Castiglione stated it was nonetheless gorgeous to obtain the decision and continues to be processing the concept he’ll now be featured within the halls he as soon as roamed as a school pupil finding out at close by Colgate and Syracuse.
“To have my name in that broadcasters section … It’s just amazing,” he stated.
Castiglione was chosen from a bunch of 10 finalists by the 15-member Frick Award committee. The different finalists included Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper and Dan Shulman.
In addition to changing into the forty eighth recipient of the Frick Award, Castiglione was additionally inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014 and in 2022 the house Fenway Park radio sales space was named in his honor.
Source: www.bostonherald.com