It was the perfect Father’s Day for Chris Castiglioni. He spent the day at the beach with his fiancee and father-in-law and then put some burgers on the grill. It was an all-American kind of afternoon.
And the Red Sox game on the radio accompanied him every step of the way.
“When we got to the beach, I threw the game on my phone, and my fiancee was kind of like, ‘Oh man, we’re listening to baseball? We’re at the beach.’” Castiglioni told me on the phone. “And I was like, ‘This is what I did as a kid. We went to the beaches at Narragansett, we brought the radio, and put the game on over there.’ I went on about how everyone was doing that across New England, so it kind of gave me a plus one to her.”
I know the premise of this article may seem fishy, considering WEEI is the Red Sox Radio Network. But believe me: this project was an honest expedition. Earlier this week, I made the brave decision to ask an open-ended question on Twitter about which sports are the best on the radio.
Given the toxic state of my Twitter feed, this was no small gesture. But I was able to muster 29 responses to my inquiry that didn’t involve cussing me out.
Where's my Pulitzer Prize?
Out of those 29 responses, in the form of replies and direct messages, 17 people said baseball is their favorite sport to listen to. And to my knowledge, none of them are collecting social security yet.
The kids might not be into baseball as much anymore, but they still prefer it on the radio over other sports.
“There is a certain tranquillity when it comes to listening to baseball on the radio. It’s relaxing as hell,” said Matt Muckjian, a 26-year-old Belmont native. “Baseball is also America’s past time, and you could argue listening to the radio is as well. It’s a seamless fit.”
There have been reports of a younger and rowdier Fenway so far this summer, probably due to cheaper ticket prices and widespread post-pandemic euphoria. Ryan Wawrzonek, a 29-year-old from Munson, says he’s noticed more of his friends are down to talk about highlights and home runs. He attributes the spike in interest to the work of Jared Carrabis and @Jomboy, who post clips from games each night in frenetic fashion.
But for Wawrzonek, baseball’s allure on the radio is all about its slower pace — and no, that is not a misquote. As a second-shifter, Wawrzonek doesn’t get to watch many games on TV, and he’s fine with that.
“I feel like the slow play can be kind of boring on TV, and I say that as a diehard Red Sox fan,” he told me. “But that makes it easier to listen to on the radio, because you have time to process everything that’s said to you.”
Jen Police, who lives in Barnstable, agrees with that assessment. "A baseball broadcast, you can always step away from it if you need to, or you can have it on the background," she said.
In many respects, calling baseball games on the radio is broadcasting in its purest form. There are no sound effects or other distractions: it’s just two or three people calling the action and trying to keep the audience entertained.
That’s why Sean McDonough, who’s announced pretty much every major sporting event known to man, came to WEEI three years ago to call a share of Sox games each season. For years, he’s wanted to do more events on the radio. He enjoys the challenge, and thinks it’s the best way to bond with an audience.
“Baseball just lends itself to be being a very comfortable listen for the radio audience,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons why historically baseball play-by-play people, particularly on the radio side, have been the most popular of all the team sport announcers, because there is all that free time. You feel as a listener you know their personality and sense of humor, just things about their lives after a while.”
Of course, there is a nostalgic component to throwing on the ol’ ballgame as well. The sound of Joe Castiglione’s voice brings me back to spending Saturday afternoons in my dad’s mini-van on the way to baseball lessons (it was not money well spent). For Pat Mahoney, a 33-year-old from Belchertown, the Red Sox on the radio also brings back memories of his old man, who used to play the radio call when the game was on TV.
The pandemic pushed pop culture to nostalgia, and after living through the last hellacious 18 months, it's comforting to remember days when the idea of spending all day in your house seemed absolutely ridiculous. It was a simpler time back then.
Everything about the world has changed, but baseball on the radio remains the same. Perhaps that is its biggest selling point after all.
“It just brings you back to being a kid,” Castiglioni said.
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Seriously, Jay?: It’s hard to choose which tweet from Jay Williams this week was more absurd: his statement that Ime Udoka is the first Black coach in Celtics history, or his claim that his account was hacked. Either way, the former Duke standout has lost a lot of credibility.
This seems to be the quintessential example of perception clouding reality. Earlier this month, Williams said it would be a “grand statement” for the Celtics to hire Kara Lawson as their new coach, given Boston’s troubled racial history. While he’s right about the last part, the statement implies a misunderstanding of Celtics history. After all, Red Auerbach made Bill Russell the NBA’ first Black head coach in 1966.
Doc Rivers was coach of the Celtics up until 2013.
But hey, we all make mistakes. Williams would be better off just owning this one. Take the L, my man.
Belichick to morning drive: There was a bit of a shakeup on WEEI this week: Bill Belichick’s weekly interview will now be on morning drive, and the interview with the Patriots’ quarterback, whomever that may be, is going to afternoons.
During my unforgettable, and quite frankly legendary stint as a morning-drive fixture, I sat in on the weekly Brady interview two or three times. I think I asked him whether he ever got hungover, and then another time, giggled over the entire conversation. Gerry was not very happy with me!
I mention that, because Brady was usually an easy interview, despite his late-career evasiveness. Cam Newton was a great listen every morning as well.
Belichick, of course, is a challenging interview, and that’s what makes his spots so interesting. There is a psychology to the practice. The biggest point in Belichick’s favor is his comfort with awkward silence. He’s more than willing to grunt through a three-word answer, and then just stop talking. On the other end of the line, it’s easy to be flustered.
Anyway, I just wanted to reminisce a little bit. Good luck to the cast of The Greg Hill Show.
Brady unfiltered: Tom Brady is unfiltered. This week, the seven-time Super Bowl champion did what he never would’ve done as a Patriot: openly insult another player.
On the latest episode of LeBron’s “The Shop,” set to air Friday night, Brady calls out an unnamed team for passing on him in free agency. “One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end. And I thought to myself ‘You’re sticking with that mother—?’,” Brady said.
Who is Brady talking about? Is it Ryan Tannehill? Jimmy Garoppolo? Now that would be spicy.
Either way, it’s probably the cockiest statement Brady has ever said publicly. I, for one, dig it.