HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joseph John Castiglione (born March 2, 1947) is an American radio announcer for the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's ei ...
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
team,Joe Castiglione
at quinnipiac.edu, URL accessed August 20, 2009
an authorAlumnus makes call Sox fans waited decades to hear
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
and lecturer.


Early life and career

Castiglione was born in
Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant (Connecticut), Sleeping Giant". The population was 61,169 at the 2020 United ...
, and graduated from
Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologic ...
with a BA in Liberal Arts. He was the radio voice of Colgate football and baseball while a student. He then received an MA in radio/TV from Syracuse University's
S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic ...
in 1970. He also worked on the
WAER-FM WAER (88.3 FM) is a radio station in Syracuse, New York. It is located on the campus of Syracuse University, and is a part of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The station features a jazz music and National Public Radio form ...
staff at SU.Lecturers
at franklinpierce.edu, URL accessed August 20, 2009
While at Syracuse, he worked a variety of on-air jobs for WSYR-TV (now
WSTM-TV WSTM-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Syracuse, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to CBS affiliate WTVH (channel 5) through a local marketing ...
). He began his career in Youngstown, Ohio, broadcasting football games for $15 a game, and as sports reporter for
WFMJ-TV WFMJ-TV (channel 21) is a television station in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is locally owned by the Maag family. WFMJ-TV's studios are located on West Boardman Street in downtown Youngstown, and i ...
in 1972.Joe Castiglione
at weei.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
Castiglione states that he was a New York Yankees fan as a kid, then closely followed the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...
because they were the closest to Youngstown, and likewise became an Indians fan after moving to Cleveland. His first major job as a sportscaster was in Cleveland in 1979, where he called
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
and
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Centr ...
games and did sports reporting for
WKYC-TV WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's longti ...
. He also called a handful of
Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...
games for pay-cable channel SelecTV in .


Career with the Red Sox

Castiglione joined the Red Sox broadcast team in 1983, teamed with
Ken Coleman Kenneth Robert Coleman (April 22, 1925 – August 21, 2003) was an American radio and television sportscaster for more than four decades (1947–1989). Early life Coleman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1925, the son of William (a salesma ...
. He admitted not being in the booth when the ball rolled through Bill Buckner's legs in the
1986 World Series The 1986 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1986 season. The 83rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the America ...
, as he was in the clubhouse covering Red Sox' seemingly impending victory celebration. After Coleman's retirement in 1989, Bob Starr became the lead announcer for the Red Sox. After Starr's departure at the end of the 1992 season, Castiglione became the team's lead radio announcer along with
Jerry Trupiano Jerome Michael Trupiano (born in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American radio sportscaster, best known for his former role as a play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox. Trupiano is a graduate of Saint Louis University, where he began his broa ...
. Castiglione became nationally known when the team won the
2004 World Series The 2004 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2004 season. The 100th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...
, with his broadcast of the end of the game. His jubilant "Can you believe it?" after the final out became a catchphrase. During the 2007 season, Castiglione shared announcing duties with a rotating duo of Dave O'BrienBroadcasters
at mlb.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
and
Glenn Geffner Glenn Geffner, a Miami native, is a radio play-by-play announcer who recently announced for the Miami Marlins. Geffner joined the Marlins radio broadcast team in 2008. Geffner partners with Dave Van Horne on the Marlins Radio Network. In addition ...
.Red Sox Extends Radio Deal with WTIC
at bizofbaseball.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
With Geffner leaving for the
Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...
broadcast booth,Broadcasters
at mlb.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
Castiglione shared the booth with Dave O'Brien,
Dale Arnold Dale Everett Arnold (born March 27, 1956) is a New England sportscaster. He hosts Boston Bruins broadcasts on NESN and co-hosted talk radio shows on WEEI until his retirement from radio on March 12, 2021, announced the day before. He was the ...
or
Jon Rish Jon Rish (born 1973) is an American former radio personality, best known for his work in the Boston area. Career Rish was a radio host for WEEI-FM in Boston. Rish attended Boston College and began his sportscasting experience on WZBC, the school ...
in 2008.2008 Red Sox Radio Broadcasters Announced
at soxanddawgs.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
Dave O'Brien and Jon Rish were his partners from 2009 through April 2013.2009 Boston Red Sox Radio Network
at soxanddawgs.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
In 2011, Dale Arnold returned to be the primary fill in on Wednesday games. Starting in May 2013, Rob Bradford,
Lou Merloni Louis William Merloni (born April 6, 1971), nicknamed "Sweet Lou", is an American radio personality and a former Major League Baseball player. Merloni played for his hometown Boston Red Sox from – and again for part of 2003. He also played for t ...
and O'Brien were his partners after John Ryder replaced Rish, with Merloni and Bradford stepping in for fill-in play by play duties. In 2011, O'Brien became the lead announcer with Castiglione moving back to the secondary announcing role. Castiglione handled play-by-play in innings 3–4 and 6–7 with O'Brien, and all innings when working with Bradford and Merloni. In 2016, with O'Brien moving to
NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red S ...
, the Red Sox television network, Castiglione began working with former
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...
broadcaster
Tim Neverett Timothy Joseph Neverett (born March 19, 1966) is an American sportscaster who currently works as a television and radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously worked as a play-by-play a ...
and once again was the primary game announcer calling innings 1–2, 5 and 8–9 on WEEI. In 2017, Castiglione and Neverett rotated games as the primary and secondary announcers. On September 20, 2018, as part of a promotion called “A Rivalry in the Booth”, Castiglione switched places with New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling in the fourth inning. During the
2018 American League Championship Series The 2018 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven series pitting the defending World Series champion Houston Astros against the Boston Red Sox, for the American League (AL) pennant and the right to play in the 2018 World Series. ...
(ALCS), Castiglione reacted to a catch made by Andrew Benintendi made in the ninth inning of Game 4. Castiglione fell out of his chair, and proceeded to finish the commentary with co-commentator Neverett after the incident. On July 28, 2022, Castiglione was honored in a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park for his 40 years of broadcasting the Red Sox; the ceremony included
Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...
presenting Castiglione with a plaque.


Other work

Castiglione has occasionally called college football and
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athle ...
, most notably including games of Lafayette College and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he worked alongside his oldest son, Duke, now with
WCVB WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...
in Boston. Castiglione is currently a lecturer in the department of
Communication Studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in different ...
at
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...
, where he teaches a course on sports broadcasting. Current Padres play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo and current Red Sox Spanish-language announcer
Uri Berenguer Uri Berenguer-Ramos (born 1982 in Panama) is a play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox Spanish Beisbol Network. Berenguer joined the Spanish Beisbol Network in 2000 as a statistician, engineer, pregame and postgame host, and play-by-play an ...
were among his students and broadcast booth interns. He has also taught at
Franklin Pierce University Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional preparation. The school gained university statu ...
in New Hampshire.


Books

In 2004, Castiglione published a book called ''Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox''. The book is a collection of stories from his days covering the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. It was updated in 2006 to include material on the 2004 World Series. In 2012, Castiglione returned to writing with a second book entitled ''Can You Believe It? 30 Years of Insider Stories with the Boston Red Sox''. In this book, he takes the reader back to the 2004 ALCS with the Yankees and that year's World Series as well as the team's return to glory in 2007. However, much of the book is about the 30 years that Castiglione spent in the broadcast booth and the personal relationships he built up over that time, woven into the ups and downs in Red Sox history.


References


External links


MA Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame Bio

Castiglione on 'Cuse Conversations Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castiglione, Joseph John 1947 births Living people American radio sports announcers Boston Red Sox announcers Cleveland Indians announcers Colgate University alumni College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Franklin Pierce University faculty Major League Baseball broadcasters Milwaukee Brewers announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters Northeastern University faculty People from Hamden, Connecticut S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni