"Can you believe it?!" Appreciating Joe Castiglione
Crafting the Call: Joe Castiglione reached the Hall of Fame, without an amazing voice, a lesson for all of us in Communications
Longtime Boston Red Sox announcer Joe Castiglione was part of the induction ceremonies at the Baseball Hall of Fame this past weekend, receiving the Ford Frick award for broadcasting excellence.
Castiglione has broadcasted Red Sox games on radio for 42 seasons, a testament to his talent and endurance, and it’s an unlikely story because his voice is not the traditional silky smooth or big baritone associated with sports broadcasting.
For that reason, Castiglione is an inspiration to me, and should be an inspiration to anybody else who is self conscious about their voice and works in any type of public speaking capacity.
I’ve never met Castiglione. I’ve heard he’s incredibly kind to fans and aspiring broadcasters. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s sick of people mentioning his voice almost immediately when describing his career. Maybe he’s used to it by now.
Early in this week’s episode of “Crafting the Call,” my co-host Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and I discussed Castiglione’s voice, our own insecurities about how we’ve sounded in our careers, and tried to instill practical advice on the matter.
Here’s a clip:
As for the rest of the episode, we listened and analyzed the following calls from Castiglione’s career:
Mo Vaughn walkoff homer on Opening Day 1998.
Final out for the Red Sox 2004 World Series title.
Coco Crisp catch to clinch the 2007 ALCS.
Final out for the Red Sox 2007 World Series title.
Pedro Martinez immaculate inning to start a game.
Jacoby Ellsbury straight steal of home.
Half inning from Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees.
Here’s a link to the full episode:
Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans and advice for fellow broadcasters. To help support our work, subscribe, like, comment, or send us a suggestion for a future episode.
Previous episodes can be broken into the following categories:
Specific plays (inside-the-park homer, straight steal of home, triple play).
One play, multiple calls (Kirk Gibson’s homer, Joe Carter’s homer).
Appreciating a legendary announcer (Marty Brennaman, guest Chris Caray on his grandfather Skip Caray, guest Joe Block on Ernie Harwell, guest Ken Levine on Dave Niehaus).
Here’s a link to all the episodes and a screenshot of the home page.
Josh: As a longtime radio broadcaster, morning show host and PD, I love this discussion. Sure, it sounds like "nerd" speak, but it's what we love. Great work and enjoyed the post. - John