The legendary radio voice of the Boston Red Sox is hanging up his microphone and calling it a career.
For over four decades, Joe Castiglione was the voice of the Boston Red Sox. He announced Sunday that 2024 will be his last season in the broadcast booth, according to local media outlet WBZ.
#BREAKING: #RedSox broadcaster Joe Castiglione announces retirement after 2024 season https://t.co/up8pmuqF3w
— WBZ Boston Sports (@wbzsports) September 15, 2024
Castiglione, 77, broadcast his first Red Sox game in 1983, making his 42-year play-by-play tenure behind the mic the longest in team history.
According to the WBZ report, the Red Sox will honor the broadcaster who called the final outs of the club’s four World Series victories between 2004-2018 during the team’s final home game Sept. 29.
“After 42 seasons and, I think, somewhere about 6,500 games I’ve decided that, to retire from a regular broadcast schedule,” Castiglione told viewers on Sunday. “You don’t normally get the opportunity in baseball, and certainly not in broadcasting, to decide when because it’s usually done for you. And the other thing is you want to go out when you still have your fastball.”
Castiglione said of his retirement that it’s time to spend more time with his wife and their grandkids.
“My grandkids would like me at their games a little bit more,” he said.
The Red Sox have made Castiglione an honorary ambassador and he hinted he’ll be around to fill-in in the broadcast booth “when the need arises.”
“While I will miss the daily interactions with baseball people and talking to the fans of Red Sox Nation, I think this is the right decision for my family and myself,” Castiglione said in a release announcing the news, WBZ reported.