2024 Ford Frick Award Winner Joe Castiglione Goes Deep On His MLB Hall of Fame Worthy Broadcasting Career
2024 Ford Frick Award Winner Joe Castiglione Goes Deep On His MLB Hall of Fame Worthy Broadcasting Career
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00:00All right, there's no one on the planet I'd rather be talking to right now than Joe Castigliano.
00:07That's because I know baseball is not boring.
00:09You do.
00:10You're the one, you basically, along with Joe Kelly, are the two people who have the
00:14straws instead of the drink when it comes to the show.
00:17Joe, I just want to start off by saying how honored I am to be part of your life in any
00:25way I am and see your excellence throughout the years.
00:30I know that a lot of people are saying that, but all I can say is where I'm coming from.
00:35As you go into the Hall of Fame, there's a lot of things I want to say, Joe, but just
00:38let me know I appreciate you.
00:40Well, thank you so much, Rob.
00:42You've been a great friend, and I've learned a lot.
00:45You always get your nose right and your pulse right on what's happening, and you're in the
00:50speech.
00:51Yeah.
00:52Oh, my goodness.
00:53Oh, my goodness.
00:54So we talked about the speech.
00:56It was the first day of spring training, which I felt honored where I was part of the first
01:03broadcast you did as an elected Hall of Famer ever.
01:07Yeah, you pointed that out.
01:09I didn't realize it, but yes, you were with me, right?
01:11Well, again, I'm honored in so many ways, but we talked even then.
01:15You were working on the speech.
01:17So you sort of, I think at that time, you said, I've got another 12 minutes.
01:21It has to be 10.
01:22And last I checked in, you're like, yeah, I'm just going to go 13.
01:25Yeah.
01:26That's about right.
01:27I sent it in today.
01:28Oh, you did?
01:29Because they printed it in big font so I don't have to wear my cheaters, and it makes it
01:35a lot easier to follow.
01:36So I'm anxious to see that, and we'll have a couple of rehearsals, I think, because we're
01:41getting there next Wednesday, and the event is Saturday afternoon.
01:45But it's a big thank you, basically.
01:47A lot of people to thank, people I work for, people I work with, people who helped me get
01:52started and to keep me going, partners and others behind the scenes as well.
02:00And when you last that long, a lot of people help you, and I've had many blessings and
02:04many great friends.
02:05It's tough to get the 13 minutes, yeah.
02:08But as we get closer here, has it hit different?
02:13Obviously we know the great story about you hanging up on them when you got the call and
02:17everything else.
02:18That's in there.
02:19Yeah, no.
02:20It's a great story.
02:21You know, it's one thing talking and talking and talking, and now you're on the verge.
02:26Is it hitting different?
02:27I think it is.
02:28I read the speech today, it was a little more emotional than it was when I was putting it
02:32together, because certain people trigger reactions when you mention them, especially people who
02:38are no longer with us, like Johnny Pesky and Lou Gorman and Ken Coleman and Bob Starr.
02:44But I got a call from Pat Hughes, the voice of the Chicago Cubs, who was last year's winner,
02:50and he gave me some advice about the speech.
02:53He said, for one thing, you're not going to be able to see the audience because of the
02:57way the lights are set up.
02:58He could barely make out his wife.
03:00I said, well, that must help you keep the emotions in check, right?
03:03And he agreed.
03:04So we'll have to practice that before it happens.
03:09Did he go 13 minutes?
03:10What did he say?
03:11He said he went 15.
03:12Oh, come on.
03:13Yeah, yeah.
03:14But it's like it's starting to, it's starting to, you obviously, you know, you're gassing
03:20up the tank and you're ready to go.
03:23And they called me last week, Josh Rowitz, the president of the Hall of Fame, and asked
03:27if I would moderate a discussion with Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz about 2004, the 20th
03:34anniversary after my speech.
03:36And I said, of course, I'd be happy to do that.
03:39It's not a difficult assignment with those two.
03:41Yeah.
03:42I mean, Jesus.
03:43What a few days.
03:44What a, I mean, what a time.
03:47But I know that you've probably been asked this before, Joe.
03:50Maybe I've asked you, but when did, when did the Hall of Fame sort of get on your radar?
03:55Like when you're young, you just want a job, right?
03:57Yeah.
03:58After 1983, all I wanted was to get a contract for 1984.
04:02Yeah.
04:03Yeah.
04:04Right.
04:05Right.
04:06Yeah.
04:07It was never on the radar, Rob.
04:08This award started in 1978.
04:09The first winner was my broadcast hero, Mel Allen, along with Red Barber, but I never
04:13gave it a thought.
04:15And then when I got on the ballot, I said, that's nice.
04:17Your second time, a little more hopeful the third time.
04:23The phone didn't ring and the fourth time was the charm.
04:27So I think when you're on the ballot like that, it puts it in your mind a little bit
04:31more, but you still never expect to win.
04:33I mean, there were so many great candidates on the ballot, including network broadcasters
04:39that in their time of assault together, the vote is never announced.
04:44I still don't know what the vote was and probably never will.
04:49Maybe next year, if I have a vote, I'll know what that vote is.
04:54So many, there's a, I know that you've talked to so many, been a mentor to so many people.
05:02So but it's now you can say, hey, this is a hall of famer.
05:05It's like with the Tampa Bay Rays talked about pitching Joe, people listen a little bit harder,
05:10right?
05:11Yeah.
05:12But with Hall of Fame, Joe, it's like, okay, tell us the secret behind broadcasting.
05:17Well, you know, it's, I'm not inducted into the hall of fame, but it's a Frick award and
05:23I signed Frick award, HOF rather than all of fame, because that's for the players and
05:28the managers.
05:29But yeah, I think it's gratifying when especially your peers look at you that way.
05:36But do you, so when you go back and you say, this is, I love power rankings, right?
05:43Give me some of the things that you think were the most important to, to, to get, to
05:47be what you became.
05:48Well, to be in the hall of fame, I think it's longevity.
05:53Yeah.
05:54I think it's a big moments and you can't control that.
05:59But I've been blessed to be here for four world championships in 15 years.
06:05Longevity because you're good though.
06:06That's.
06:07Yeah.
06:08And longevity helps you get a better trend X and the better recognition factor because
06:11you've been around longer.
06:13But I think big moments and being with a big, good franchise, a signature franchise and
06:19those types of things really make it possible.
06:23I mean, if I were with a sixth place team, like I was before I got here, it would be
06:28harder to be noticed.
06:29Some of those guys are in because they were great broadcasters, but it's a lot easier
06:34when your team is winning and you're in the spotlight.
06:38Especially when you have the cloud of Red Sox nation.
06:41I think that's critical.
06:42Yeah.
06:43Well, a lot of people get behind the, obviously your heroes are so many.
06:47When did you, what do you do?
06:48This is going even further back.
06:50When did you realize that you wanted to be a broadcaster?
06:54As soon as I knew I wasn't good enough to play.
06:56Really?
06:57And as Ernie Harwell likes to say, I wanted to be a player in the worst way and that's
07:00exactly how I played.
07:04I think I realized about age 10 or 11 that I wasn't going to be a player and Mel Allen
07:11was my hero.
07:12I hate to admit it, but I was a big Yankee fan in those days being from New Haven.
07:17I think I set my sights on that and I practiced in the backyard doing play-by-play, my own
07:24fungo games and people thought I was crazy, but I tried it.
07:29But you were laser focused.
07:31You knew that's what you wanted to do.
07:33You know, one of the nicest compliments I had when I went to my 50 year reunion at Colgate,
07:40one of my classmates said, you're the guy who's doing exactly what he said he wanted
07:45to do.
07:46That's awesome.
07:47And I realized, wow, that's really a blessing.
07:49That is such a good thing.
07:50That is like one of the best compliments you can get.
07:54It is because, I mean, the focus was there.
07:57What I have done if I hadn't made it, I don't know.
08:00I really don't know.
08:02One of the greatest realizations I had was maybe 10 or 15 years ago when I came to the
08:08conclusion that, hey, I don't have to do anything else.
08:11I don't have to sell insurance or any kind of job like that.
08:16It wasn't until then you were like, oh man, I'm going to be able to do this until...
08:20Don't take this away.
08:21I love this.
08:23And when you come to that realization, I think you realize you have it on easy street.
08:30You have to work at it.
08:31It's been a lot of fun, but I've had a lot of people that helped me.
08:34Yeah.
08:35Well, so I'm going to ask you about baseball.
08:37So this is a question that I love asking players.
08:41We actually, Commissioner of Baseball asked him, the first time you walked into a ballpark
08:50and everyone's experience is different, but there are constant themes.
08:55And I'm not going to put words in your mouth, but one of them is you walk into Fenway, the
08:59greens never greener, the whites never whiter.
09:01Do you remember when you walked into a major league park for the first time?
09:04Yeah.
09:05The first time I walked into a park, I think I was six and it was Jerry Coleman Day at
09:09Yankee Stadium.
09:10He was just back from Korea and he became my first baseball hero.
09:15And I told him that later years, because he's a Ford Frick winner as well, over 40 years
09:20in the San Diego Padres booth before he passed away and he says, I never should have played
09:26that day.
09:27I weighed 130 pounds.
09:29He was a wonderful guy, but I do remember the aura of Yankee Stadium with the triple
09:38deck and the facade.
09:40And I remember my first time at Fenway, it was at the end of the summer before my senior
09:46year in college, stood in the bleachers.
09:49They actually had benches there in the bleachers.
09:52And to see the wall for the first time, I think really what was so remarkable and really
09:57breathtaking to see the green.
09:59That is so awesome.
10:01So when another baseball question I love talking about is you get a chance to sit here and
10:07watch games in person.
10:09And I think even before the pitch clock, going to a baseball game is the best sport to go
10:18to.
10:19You've done, as we know, you've done basketball because you've had Johnny Moose put a cigarette
10:23on your pants or something like that, but going to a baseball game is the best.
10:30I think so because it's outside and you never really see a good game or not.
10:37There are certainly not all good games, but you always have a chance to see something
10:41you never saw before.
10:42I mean, who thought on April 29th, 1986, with the media at the Garden for the Celtics playoff
10:47game against Atlanta and 44 degrees in Misting that you'd see a 20 strikeout game for the
10:53first time in history.
10:56You just never know.
10:57And that adds to the excitement of it.
10:59Plus, you know, I consider myself a baseball historian and, you know, I love to compare
11:05things.
11:06I love to watch players and see how far they're going to go and even if your team is out of
11:13it.
11:14Well, it's personality.
11:15That's another thing that's great about you.
11:18You have great relationships with so many guys and you've obviously throughout the years,
11:24but even the time that I've been with you, I just love how when a guy does well, you
11:32feel it, right?
11:33I do, yeah.
11:35Because you're a human being.
11:36You're a good person and you see the good in other people.
11:39Well, I think that's a big part of it and, you know, we all have our favorites and you
11:45know people better than others.
11:46That's the great thing about baseball at 25 and now 26 players and personalities and obviously
11:51you gravitate to some more than others or you just by happenstance, you get closer to
11:56some more than others.
11:58But many of them become lifetime friends and several of them are telling me they're going
12:03to be in Cooperstown.
12:04So I'm very excited about that and that can bring emotions out.
12:08Oh, well, I told you, I told you what one of the captains of Team Joe is doing.
12:14Rich Hill.
12:15You know what he's doing?
12:16Well, he's bringing his wife and son.
12:17Well, he's driving up and back all in one day.
12:21Yes, he is.
12:23That's the oven beyond the call.
12:24I mean, no, but you know, you have a lot of people.
12:28It's a testament to, you know, and I think that it was so great to have Rich in the booth
12:33and with you.
12:34Oh, yeah.
12:35Spring training.
12:36Spring training.
12:37He's got a future there.
12:38Maybe he'll help us on the mound before the season's over.
12:39Well, these guys told him he's going to throw the first pitch here, then he's going to like
12:43sign a contract and then do a broadcast and do it all.
12:46But it's you know, another part about it is it is when people talk about you, it's it's
12:52not only baseball.
12:54You are your voice is ingrained and I'm not like asking you to like this is just the fact
13:01is ingrained in their life, is ingrained in in their their how they grew up.
13:08I know for me, Joe, it was sitting up in my parents' cabin because we didn't have in
13:14Freeport, Maine.
13:15We didn't have a TV.
13:16We listened to the Red Sox game, staring at the ceiling.
13:20Those voices were always ingrained in me and and for everybody who follows the Red Sox.
13:27That's it.
13:28Your voice is ingrained in them.
13:29Well, it's a blessing.
13:30You know, when I first came here, I got ripped for not having the huge pipes.
13:36We all have our own styles and it's a matter of getting used to.
13:39And I think it's the passion more than anything.
13:43That's more important than having the big boomer and the credibility you need.
13:48You need the trust of New England fans.
13:51I think Joe, like anybody who like says leans on voice inflection or what pipes, but it's
13:56being genuine.
13:57Yeah, that's it.
13:58You're right.
13:59I think that's the most important thing.
14:02Your fan base has to trust you and have confidence in you.
14:08And that's why, you know, when somebody makes an error, you say, you don't cover up for
14:12things, but you let them make their own judgments, too.
14:17I just want to say also, I want to point out your family.
14:21It's your not only obviously we talking about your greatness and how much you've met, but
14:28getting to know your family and having your family around and it's not an easy job, right?
14:34It's not.
14:35And that's why Jan gets so much credit.
14:36I mean, take care of the house, raising three great kids, now six grandchildren.
14:43She's done a lot on her own without many relatives helping her because she's in Ohio.
14:48They're from Ohio.
14:50And it's been just a blessing.
14:53And she gave up her career.
14:54She didn't go back to teach for a while, but pretty much sacrificed it for me and my
15:00career.
15:01And, you know, there were some uncertain times along the way in terms of job security, but
15:08it's all worked out.
15:10Thanks to many blessings.
15:11Well, seeing you down with your grandkids, whether it's in the booth or in the field,
15:14you know, that's the coolest.
15:16Like that's that's the best.
15:18They never want me to leave.
15:19They love the perks.
15:20I believe the ice cream machine.
15:22Are you kidding me?
15:23Oh yeah.
15:25Joe, again, I just want to thank you for everything.
15:28And it's of all my life's honors.
15:31It's right up there.
15:32So thank you.
15:33Thank you so much, Rob.
15:35And I hope we can do many more broadcasts together because I always learn something
15:39with you.
15:40You get the pulse of the team, right?
15:41Thanks, Joe.