Legendary MLB broadcaster signs off

The 2024 Major League Baseball season ended for the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. That also means that it’s the final time that Joe Castiglione will call one of their games on the radio.

Castiglione announced a few weeks back that he would retire from the WEEI booth following the finish of the season after calling Red Sox games for 42 years , the longest tenure of any play-by-play announcer in franchise history.

With the final out of Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, Castiglione summed up his storied career and signed off in style before he transitioned into becoming an ambassador for the club.

“Well, I guess it’s nostalgia time here at the end of the season,” he said. “And at the end of my career as a regular Red Sox broadcaster, we’re not going to go away, but you won’t see us as often. We hope to be part of the Red Sox organization for a long, long time. But I’m so blessed to have such wonderful people to work for and to work with. We talked a little while ago about my great partner, Ken Coleman, who brought me to Boston in 1983. And I would like to close as we’ve every season since Ken retired after the 1989 season with the way he would close every season. Reading from the great words of the former Commissioner of baseball, President of Yale University, and longtime family friend in New Haven, Connecticut, A. Bartlett Giamatti, who wrote in “ The Green Fields of the Mind ” about the game of baseball.

“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring when everything else begins again. And it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings. And then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and it leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive. And just when you need it most, it stops, and summer is gone.

“Another season is gone. My 42 years here have gone so quickly, but now it’s time to say goodbye to Red Sox Nation, at least on a regular basis. And to pass the baton to my good friend, Will Fleming.”

It’s worth noting that while Castiglione has advocated for Fleming to be his successor, his contract status with the Red Sox remains in flux .

The Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster was also honored before the game, throwing out the first pitch and being feted with a special ceremony that included appearances by various former Red Sox players.

There have been many tributes and well-wishes to Castiglione as he transitions from this role into his new one. Give a listen to the one from former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, who stopped by the booth during the game.

“You called every single pitch from the first day I showed up in Boston and got on that bump to the last pitch I threw here,” said Martinez. “I know you are my friend. One of the most unique friends, and I’m honored to call myself Joe Castiglione’s friend.”

[ WEEI , Dani Wexelman ]

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