Around New England

Joe Castiglione Calls It A Career After 42 Seasons Calling Boston Red Sox Games On The Radio

September 17, 2024

Longtime Boston Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione, the voice of the team’s radio broadcast since the early 1980s, has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2024 Red Sox season.

Castiglione’s 42-season tenure (1983-2024) in the booth makes him the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in franchise history. The Red Sox plan to honor Castiglione before their final regular season game on September 29 at Fenway Park (against the Tampa Bay Rays at 3:05 p.m.).

Castiglione, 77, was a New York Yankees fan when he was growing up in Hamden, Connecticut, but in recent decades he has become closely associated with the Red Sox.

“After 42 seasons with the Red Sox and more than 6,500 games, I have decided it’s time to retire from a regular broadcast schedule,” Castiglione said in a press release from Fenway Sports Group issued Sunday, September 15. “While I feel I am at the pinnacle of my career, have been blessed to call four World Championships, and received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Hall of Fame in July while working for the greatest franchise in sports, it’s time to spend more time with Jan, my bride of almost 53 years, my kids, and grandkids. The Red Sox and Audacy have been wonderful to me and have let me call my own shots, which is so rare in broadcasting. They will keep me in the family as a club representative making appearances with clients and fans, working special events, and filling in on game broadcasts when the need arises. While I will miss the daily interactions with baseball people and talking to the fans of Red Sox Nation, I think this is the right decision for my family and myself.”

Red Sox owner John Henry praised Castiglione, calling him one of the greatest baseball broadcasters ever.

“Joe is one of the greatest in baseball broadcasting,” Henry said in the press release. “His recognition by the Hall of Fame in July punctuated a career of vivid storytelling that has brought the game to life for generations of listeners. His brilliance in the booth is matched only by his exceptional character. Though his role has placed him squarely in the spotlight, he has aways let the action on the field take center stage, a trait he has shown even behind the mic with an uncanny ability to put others first. His kindness and genuine spirit have touched everyone around him and as he steps into a well-deserved retirement, he leaves behind a legacy of humility and warmth that will continue to inspire us all. We are grateful for his more than four decades of dedication and for sharing his love for baseball and the Red Sox with all of us night after night.”

Red Sox President and chief executive officer Sam Kennedy also praised Castiglione, saying that he is an even better person than he is a broadcaster.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more friendly and dependable than Joe,” Kennedy said in the press release. “Like countless New Englanders, I grew up listening to him call Red Sox games every season and his broadcasts always felt like a conversation with a trusted friend, a rare gift that made him a fixture in homes across the region. After working with him for over two decades, I have come to appreciate that Joe’s talent in the broadcast booth is an attribute equaled only by his unfailing kindness. He is down-to-earth and one of the most authentic individuals I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. It’s difficult to have imagined a better voice or a finer person to serve as the narrator of Red Sox baseball these past four decades and he has certainly earned a very well-deserved retirement.”

Before coming to Boston, Castiglione called Major League Baseball games for the Cleveland Indians (1979, 1982) and Milwaukee Brewers (1981).

Most notably, during Castiglione’s tenure calling Red Sox games, he called the final out in each of the team’s four World Series wins of the 21st century:  2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018.

Castiglione received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in July 2024, an award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Additionally, he was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014; other members of that class included Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, and Nomar Garciaparra.

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