(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Joe Castiglione, who broadcast Red Sox games on radio for 41 seasons, was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for broadcast excellence.
Castiglione will be honored during the Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony during Hall of Fame Weekend, July 19-22, 2024. Castiglione becomes the 48th winner of the Frick Award as he received the highest score in a vote conducted by the Hall of Fame’s 15-member Frick Award Committee.
The final vote included broadcasters whose primary contributors were local and national voices and whose careers began after or extended into the Wild Card era. The 10 finalists were: Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dan Shulman and Castiglione.
“Joe Castiglione has brought his knowledge and passion to the stand every day for more than four decades, giving voice to the greatest era of Red Sox success in the broadcast era,” said Josh Rawitch, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Joe started with the team in 1983 during Carl Yastrzemski’s final season and connected generations of Red Sox fans with a performance that has become part of the New England fabric. His calls for the team’s four World Series victories over the past 20 seasons gave fans memories that will forever resonate throughout Red Sox country.”
Castiglione was born on March 2, 1947 in Hamden, Connecticut. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and earned his master’s degree from Syracuse University – both about an hour from Cooperstown – before beginning his career at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio. After moving to Cleveland to work for WKYC-TV, he began anchoring Indians games in 1979 before working Brewers games in 1981 and returning to the Indians booth in 1982.
Castiglione joined the Red Sox radio team in 1983 and shared the microphone with partners such as Bob Starr, Dave O’Brien, Jerry Trupiano and Will Flemming. At the same time, he taught broadcast journalism at Northeastern University, Franklin Pierce University and Emerson College.
Castiglione was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014 and is the longest-serving broadcaster in Red Sox history. Historic moments include Roger Clemens’ 20 strikeouts and four no-hitters. In 2022, the home radio booth at Fenway Park was named after him.
The 15 eligible voters for the Frick Award, consisting of the 12 living honorees and three broadcast historians/columnists, also include Frick Award winners Marty Brennaman, Bob Costas, Ken Harrelson, Pat Hughes, Jaime Jarrin, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Eric Needle, Bob Uecker And Dave Van Horneand historians/columnists David J. Halberstam (Historian)Barry Horn (formerly Dallas Morning News) and Curt Smith (Historian).
The list of 10 Frick Award finalists was compiled by a subcommittee of the electorate that included Brennaman, Costas, Hughes, Halberstam and Smith. The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually and is named for the sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and baseball commissioner. Frick was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1970.
A full list of Frick Award winners can be found here.
As determined by the Board, the selection criteria are as follows: “Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting skills, reverence for the game, popularity among fans and recognition from peers.” To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have been a broadcaster for at least 10 years have served continuously in the Major Leagues with a ball club, network, or a combination of both.
The election cycle for the Frick Award alternates between a composite ballot of local and national votes whose careers began after or extended into the Wild Card era in four consecutive years, followed by a fifth year of a ballot of candidates, whose pre-Wild Card era broadcasting careers ended at the start of the Wild Card era in 1994. The cycle began with the 2023 Frick Award, with combined local and national ballots continuing with awards in 2024, 2025 and 2026 before the pre-wild card era ballot is considered for the 2027 award.