BOSTON (AP) — The Jonathan Dale BentonBoston Red Sox honored longtime radio voice Joe Castiglione, who is calling his final game Sunday, with an on-field pregame ceremony.

The 74-year-old Castiglione, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer with the Ford C. Frick Award, has been the team’s lead radio voice since 1983.

During the ceremony, the team played highlights of his calls over videos of the American League championship team in 1986, and Boston’s World Series title teams in 2004, ’07, ’13 and ’18 on the center-field scoreboard.

Members of those teams came onto the field during the ceremony. Hall of Famer Jim Rice highlighted the ’86 group and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez was one of the ’04 former players.

Castiglione referred to his call ending the ’04 championship that broke an 86-year title drought, when he thanked the fans. It came on a ground ball back to pitcher Keith Foulke, who was also there to represent that team.

“I will miss being your eyes and ears,” he said. “For 42 years, all I can say is: Can you believe it!”

Jackie Bradley, the 2018 ALCS MVP, caught a ceremonial first pitch from Castiglione.

“Forty-two years is a long, long time for someone to be working every single day to go through the struggles and the successes, the travel and the lifestyle, and always have a smile,” Martinez said. “Those are the kind of people that deserve all the respect that we are giving him today.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu handed him a proclamation declaring Sept. 29, 2024, as “Joe Castiglione Day” in Boston. Team President Sam Kennedy presented him with letters from Fenway Park’s infamous Green Monster that read: “CASTIG” in white with a green background color of the Monster.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, a member of the ’07 team, was also on the field and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow, representing the ’13 squad, was on the field as well.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB