Can you believe it?
Castiglione is in his 26th seasoncalling Red Sox games on the radio. Prior to coming to call the games here in Boston, he had done television broadcasts for the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers, but is now a fixture here in Boston.
He also did time as a sports anchor back in the Ohio in the 1970’s, after graduating from Colgate in 1968 and getting an M.S. in TV-Radio from Syracuse in 1970.
Castiglione has taught broadcasting courses at Northeastern University since 1985 and at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire since 1997.
He has also written a book, Broadcast Rites and Sites, Revised Edition: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox
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Joe Castiglione Approval Ratings
Popularity: 29% [?]
The Sox kept the wrong guy. Bring back Trupiano. I’ve never seen him at a Bruins game.
“Disapprove!” (Can You Believe It?)
The amazingly long title of that book almost turned my vote the other way, but a mild “approve” from this corner.
The book was among the worst I’ve ever attempted to read. His editor should be in witness protection. Quality guy who I expected much more from based on his erudite call of the game.
I liked Joe when he was Bob Starr’s second banana. Jack Craig said it best, back in the days of Trupe: “The Red Sox have two #2 radio announcers.” Acknowledging the sorry state of baseball radio announcing these days - Ernie Harwell or Ned Martin aren’t walking through that door - they could do better. Joe still relies too much on stats, and his voice is second-rate. Sorry, Joe.
His voice always reminded me of Captain Binghamton from McHale’s Navy.
I still like him anyway.
It’s just not Red Sox baseball on the radio without Uncle Joe calling the games.
Big approval from this corner.
Keeps the broadcast moving along. Doesn’t need to mention the score, as you can easily tell what’s going on by the tone in his voice. Demonstrated aural disdain for Geffner on many occasions last season. Has a goofy smile.
APPROVE.
APPROVE!
The only criticism I would have of Joe is that he often seems to be fooled by long fly ball outs, making you think that they will be home runs.
He’s been in the job a while, and his performance is usually above par compared to other announcers in the Majors. Remember, this is the position that Meter covets, so wish Joe good health or Fenway Sports Group will foist that panty waisted wretched Hebrew Lamar Lutrell on you the first chance it gets. Approve!
GOOD GOD!
I wish you good health Joe. Approved.
What’s the Hebrew thing got to do with anything?
Jon, he is mocking the morning flash puke. It’s the long, inane, rambling rant one might hear from any sub-par Dennis Miller wanna-be. I mean throw in as many descriptive adjectives as possible and one obscure reference and wah-la: that’s comedy folks.
Certainly not a classic radio voice, but he does the job. He’s obviously partisan, but not an over-the-top homer. His commentary is usually relevant and obviously comes from his own recollections, not a regurgitation of the media guide. Exactly what you want from a local radio pbp.
Approve, but why Castig? We should be voting on the likes of Meter, Felger, Massarotti, Craig Mustard, Fat O, etc…
APPROVE….However he’s no Ned Martin…or Curt Gowdy…or Vin Scully…..but I do like how he says, “Swing and a pop up” with such distain
He may not have the classic radio pipes, but the man knows how to do baseball on the radio. Calls the action accurately; tells stories at the right time; lets the game breathe. Sounds like a)he’s glad to be there; and b)that he appreciates that people listen.
Approve; especially when stacked up against many of the alternatives.
Approve - but i liked Bob Starr a lot more than I liked Joe.
Whenever, Bob Starr told me; “Now would be a great time to enjoy the crisp, clean cool taste of a Budweiser.” I believed him.
Joe suffers by guilt from association with WEEI (i.e. a 40 minute pregame show which is nothing but ads).
Disaprove! I really haven’t listened to him a whole lot, but I have really never liked him on the radio. He is tooo droll, he never seems to get excited about anything. I’m with NASCL, I liked Trupe.
his face reminds me of an aging john denver had john denver aged.
approved.
Love Joe. Please, please, please no Meter.
Mild approve. Has never had a great radio voice but is able to convey genuine enthusiasm for the team without being too much of a homer. However in recent years I have noticed a greater frequency of small mistakes, wrong man at bat, wrong men on base, wrong score, etc. Usually these are quickly corrected (perhaps at the prompting of the director or producer) but it’s a troubling tendency for a man getting up in years.
Joe’s good. He’ll forever be the voice we hear whenever we look back at the two WS Championships. Due to his longevity in the booth, I’ll approve him.
Bob Starr made the Red Sox sound like a Kansas City Royals game. He was the wrong announcer for us. Joe grew up a Red Sox fan and it shows through on his broadcasts.
I’m pretty sure Joe actually grew up a Yankees fan.
Knows the game as well as anyone, knows the history of the game as well as anyone, and can rattle off historical games/moments as well as anyone. He lacks the Dave O’Brien/Jerry Trupiano/Bob Starr classic radio voice, but has been through as much as anyone in Red Sox land….2 ownership changes, 4 GMS, 8 Managers, so longevity gets an approval.
He’s THE WORST! Absolutely atrocious. He should’ve been launched with Trupiano. Nasally whiny pipes, his sing songy style of announcing the game is annoying. Just terrible.
Dave O’Brien is great, though.
Bob Starr was the greatest.
Good guy. Bad pipes.
Disapprove.
Mild approval. Castig does the job and is an institution calling Sox games. I agree with Angry Old Bastard…love his disappointment when he calls “a swing and a pop up”. Trupe was better.
I liked his ‘can you believe it’ call to end the world series but now he’s using it too much.
Geffner was worse than aweful.
He makes my ‘Approve’ team
Approve. I loved listening to baseball on the radio until they put it on that crappy signal and Joe was a huge part of it.
Does anyone remember a caller bit that aired on Andelman’s radio show sometime in the early ’90’s? It was an interview of Lou Gorman by Joe Castiglione. It started with an unnaturally high-pitched “Hi everybody!” from Joe and then Lou answered a question by repeating “Good young arms, got a lot of good young arms.” Pretty funny.
The bit also puts a lie to Fraudway’s claim that he thought up the Whiner Line. Not only did Howie have the Chump Line, but Andelman had callers doing bits going back to at least the ’80’s. (The one I remember: “Come back to Jamaica Plains, What’s your’s is now mine.”)
who gives a crap about ‘pipes’. it’s usually an affectation that sounds phony as hell. guys like meter try to cultivate ‘pipes’ i could give you a list of guys with ‘pipes’ and they almost all suck and they all love the sound of their own voice. guys like castig communicate the feel the flow of the game.
having trupiano with him made it unbearable as they could never give you the count/score etc. trup was into his freaking pipes and his faux literary bullcrap at the expense of the reality on the field as well as endless references to 1980s cardinals (tommy herr was not that good). then joe gets teamed up with geffner which probably took 5 years off his life and now he gets dale arnold once a week? poor guy.
bob starr was not the greatest.ken coleman was the greatest.gefner sucked.ned martin was amazing.i met ned martin at the ted wiliams night, he passed away the next day in an airport.great set of pipes.oh mercy!
I like the mood he sets, you can tell within 30 seconds of flipping the game on mid-way through if the Sox are up or down. Too much emphasis in these comments on his voice. “Good pipes” gets thrown around too much, the ladies might disagree but we don’t need Barry White calling the game.
Uncle Joe gets an approval. He’s not the greatest play-by-play man, but as we learned last year we could do a lot worse. Also I hated Trupiano and didn’t like Bob Starr either. When Castiglione retires the Sox should get Eddie’s old flash guy Dave Jageler. Jags did the PawSox for a year before moving onto the Nationals. If the carpetbaggers didn’t screw Joe O’Donnell out of the Sox Jags would already be the play-by-play man with Rico Petrocelli on color.
And we still might be hearing the chants of “19……18.”
But hot dogs would only cost $1 and water would flow freely from the bubblers.
then go to Lowell. I dont agree with everything the new owners have done but you have to shitting me when you even insinuate that you liked the Yawkey/Sullivan era over this one.
If Joe were to leave, you’d notice it. While he’s here, it’s like he’s part of the furniture. But his heart is in the right place. Mild “approve.” To me, he’s like Tim Thomas - a 1A, not quite in the “best” category.
Was never a fan of his final call of the ‘04 World Series. Too scripted.
What’s not to love about Joe.
Disapproving of Joe is like disapproving of your grandfather who buys you candy all the time.
You are 75% of the way to an ‘Approve’ rating when you refrain from editorializing. Hence, play-by-play folks will almost always garner top marks relative to the bottom-feeders muck-rakers on radio, in the newspapers, and on TV.
Love him. Don’t listen to the games on the radio but every time I hear his voice… I don’t know… I feel like drinking.
Uncle Joe - A hearty “approve” for the friendly voice on the radio.
For my money, the lack of a stereotypical radio sportscaster voice is one of the nice things about Joe. He isn’t a guy who got the job because he sounds like everybody else, he got it because he calls a pretty good game, paces himself well, and actually seems to know what’s going on around him, unlike anyone in the booth for the Stanks or the Rangers (the only other teams I hear frequently enough on radio to care).
As far as his looks: Why do I care? He’s on the freaking radio. I don’t care if the guy looks like a Muppet.
approve
really enjoy his calls of the game in the car and late at night
Approve! I second Ironhead’s post.
Now that I have to listen to games via MLB since I’ve relocated to SF, his voice reminds me of home. He understands the flow of the game and lets it unfold without feeling the need to push things.
Approve…and I’ll be listening to a lot more radio if NESN continues to use that insulting, back-of-the-bleachers camera to cover every single pitch.
If NESN really wants to destroy what, for decades, was the best pitch coverage in all of Baseball, why not take the camera out of Fenway entirely…and mount it on the Prudential Building?
I totally disagree with you. the new camera angle is fantastic…maybe Bruce can do a post/poll about that?
How in the world is the camera angle insulting you?
It’s insulting to ask the viewer to go from a manned, versatile camera in the front row of the bleachers that can follow the pitcher, the batter and a steal play at second base…to a slow-focus, remote-controlled, stationary camera in the BACK of the bleachers that is fixed on the plate and can serve no other purpose.
That’s how it’s insulting…to me and everybody with whom I’ve discussed it.
I can’t complain about Joe.
I grew up on Martin and Woods, and they were the BEST, but Castiglione has carved out his own niche as the Red Sox play-by-play guy too.
Sox fans….appreciate what you’ve got in Joe. Remember, we could be stuck with Sterling and Waldman.
I have always considered Jim Woods and Jon Miller as my favorite Red Sox radio announcers but Joe does a nice job calling the game and I approve.
Disapprove.
I can no longer listen to red sox games when he’s calling them because he’s so bad at calling long fly balls. Also, just listening to his description of the game makes me have to strain to understand what’s going on. It’s amazing how much better Dave O’Brian is than Castig. I also agree that his voice is annoying as well but I could live with that if he could do a better job calling the game.
The only reason Castig still has a job is because he’s become part of what people associate with the Red Sox brand, which is ridiculous.
“SWIIIIING AND A DRIVE!! WAY BACK! WAY BACK! — Easy catch for Tori Hunter, Game’s Over folks.”
Uh that was Trupe’s signature call not Joe’s.
high approval, one of the best guys out there and so is Obie. Just get mlb radio or XM and listen to the trash calling games in the other cities, you’ll come to appreciate him.
Wears his heart on his sleeve.Swing and a popup
His voice is a little whiney. A little whiney.
Good grief. Approve! Joe lacks the great voice, but other than that, I can’t imagine a better baseball announcer. And they never should have gotten rid of Trupe, either. Ned Martin was overrated, especially toward the end of his career.
You’re stealing my “good griefs” now?
I approve of Joe, but agree that he’s best as a second banana.
For years to come, Sox fans will rue the day the Sox kept Trupe while allowing Dave Flemming to leave the PawSox for the SF Giants.
Too miss the chance to vote approve would be… a colossal squander.
Better than: other non-Mike Gorman area announcers.
Worse than: that time Dick Vitale lost his voice for half a year.
Would love to approve him but just can’t. If he had to auditioned for this job tomorrow, sight unseen in an open job search, he wouldn’t warrent a 2nd look.
I’m all for loyalty and tradition but not at the expense of a voice made for a mute button. Maybe he’d get a thumbs up from me in the 2nd seat.
Strongly disapprove.
I also can’t stand Heidi Watney.
Looks hot but a lousy reporter and interviewer.
Have to agreed, early returns on HW makes me realize what a gem Tina was. Hopefully, she’ll improve as the season goes along.
Lovable man, I’m sure, but have to vote with the head and disapprove. A radio play-by-play man needs to have 2 things: great pipes and the ability to engage in idle chatter that’s reasonably interesting. Joe strikes out on both counts. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard and his idea of idle chitchat is to recite players’ bios verbatim from the media guide. He’s like the older employee at work who everyone loves, but he really brings nothing to the table talent-wise.
If you’re calling him Uncle Joe, then this is an Uncle I’d rather not sit around and listen to. I’ve always thought the Red Sox radio programs have curiously lacked the stars and quality that the Patriots (WBCN) and Celtics (Mike and Tommy, Grande and Max) have had. I mean, the Red Sox are arguably the biggest sports team in America right now and they have mediocre at best radio guys? Shouldn’t every guy at ESPN be knocking down their door for this gig?
Shove Joe C into retirement. His helium voice is played out.
The Sox Radio broadcasts are a real snoozer. The crowd noise is too low and minutes go by without commentary. I’ve no idea why the Sox feel 2 play-by-play men are necessary. In any case, I believe Castiglione has survived so long because he never stirs anything up in the continuing corporatization of the “good-news” Sox.
Given the great PBP people we’ve had for the Sox in the past, Castig doesn’t cut it for me. And, with Dave O’Brien on board it just underscores the fact the he is best in the second banana seat.
He’s missing the entertainment factor, just calls the game but doesn’t give me a reason to listen. Remy and Orsillo call a good game and entertain (though Jerry the promoter is getting old).
I cannot believe all the mentions of Bob Starr. Starr was only with the Sox for two years following the retirement of the great Ken Coleman. I remember Starr as the TV voice of the Angels. Starr made the Sox sound like an Angels game, not a Royals game. No knock on Starr, he was terrific, I’m just surprised so many people remember him in Boston.
The best Sox radio men in my lifetime are Coleman, Ned Martin and Jim Woods. All three are gone, of course, but them, along with Curt Gowdy, should be on a Mount Rushmore of Sox radio broadcasters.
Castiglione came on board in 1983, the last year I lived in Massachusetts before moving to California. He has endured quite well over the years, and while he lacks the distinctive vocal qualities in many “booming baritone” types, I have always enjoyed him a lot. To me he is the quintessential “Voice of the Red Sox” and has been for some time. I wish him many more years of doing the Sox on the radio, he does his job well.
What he needs is a decent partner. I for one was not in favor of letting Jerry “Way back” Trupiano go. I’m not a big Dave O’Brien fan (even less because of his frequent ESPN absences), Glenn Geffner was a joke, and I’m not wild about Dale Arnold.
I sincerely hope the Red Sox don’t do something insanely idiotic like allowing Meterparel to call Sox games. He is a twerp, nothing more or less.
Who told this guy he could steal Johnny Most’s act? He and his sidekick are constantly finding something wrong with other teams and other cities. “our fans are better, our park is better, the Orioles should be ashamed that their park is full of red sox fans”…. Maybe the red sox should be ashamed that the normal, everyday fan can’t afford to get into “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” and they have to travel hundreds of miles. And are we really to believe there is a conspiracy by the umps against the red sox? Listening to to these guys do a game I learn more about the individual umps at each game and there faults than about any players or anything game related. Trupe made Joe sound good cause he was so bad but at least he was amusing. Listen to a Mets or Yankees, or Orioles broadcast. You get an account of the game and some interesting side info by professional broadcasters rather whining and gloating by amateur cheerleaders.
You have to be of a certain age to remember when the Patriots changed radio stations, from WEEI to WBZ, and replaced Bob Gallagher (and sometimes Ned Martin or Fred Cusick) with Bob Starr. He and Gil Santos did the games out of Fenway Park, Harvard Stadium, Alumni Field, whereever the Pats happened to be playing this week, and they were terrific. So you can see that some old-timers remember Bob Starr fondly, but he had his big chops here as a football announcer.
Worse play by play guy in Red Sox history. Compared to Ken Coleman it’s like a cop trying to interview a witness to an auto accident. he doesn’t tell you what’s going on in real time and is unable to to recap the play in English. Awful. Particularly with the distinguished history of Sox announcers… Gowdy, Murphy , Martin, Coleman, Starr and Millar. Don’t even get me going with his fashion comments… ” Sox in the short sleeve red shirts and grey pants”.
You guys have to be crazy to dissaprove of Joe Castiglione. The man knows how to call a baseball game, plain and simple. It’s annoying when someone tries way too hard to have a “radio voice”. Joe talks on the radio the same way he talks in person. Also, the man puts in more effort than almost any sports broadcaster out there. Did you know he has a flash card from every player in the American League that he has ever covered? He re-writes them by hand every year, updating them. As a student in his sports broadcasting class, I’ve come to know him and his unique style. I grew up listening to him, and its hard to imagine listening to the red sox on the radio without Joe Castiglione. Go listen to Jon Miller on ESPN and then you will appreciate what we have in Joe.