Preparedness is one of the many attributes that have served Joe Castiglione well in his 4½-decade career, which culminates Saturday when he will be honored with the Ford C. Frick Award at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
So it should come as little surprise that Castiglione, who has called Red Sox games on the radio since 1983, had his speech ready to go not long after he learned he’d need to make one.
“Oh, I’ve been working on it since I found out I was the honoree in December,” said Castiglione, 77, who said he sent in the final tweaks to the Hall of Fame last week. “I knew right away that it would be about thanking people that have meant so much to me along the way. So that’s the theme, gratitude. There are a lot of people that deserve thanks.”
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Actually, Castiglione deadpanned, he thought about it even before he received the thrilling news that he was this year’s recipient of the Frick Award, which celebrates broadcasting excellence.
“I had thought about what I’d say a lot,” he said with a laugh, “because I was on the ballot four times.”
Castiglione will receive the award Saturday at the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation, which takes place at 3 p.m. at the Alice Busch Opera Theater at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown. The late Gerry Fraley will be honored with the BBWAA Career Excellence Award at the same event.
After the speeches, Castiglione will moderate a discussion with Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez and David Ortiz about the 2004 Red Sox, 20 years after they broke the franchise’s 86-year championship drought.
“It’s all very exciting, and I’m not nervous, but a little anxious, I guess,” Castiglione said. “I’m not used to talking about myself.”
Castiglione said he watched the speech of last year’s recipient, Pat Hughes, and received some advice from the longtime Cubs broadcaster.
“One thing he said is that the way the lights are set up at the opera house, you won’t see the audience,” said Castiglione. “He said he could barely see his wife.”
If the lights don’t prevent Castiglione looking out into the crowd, he will see an abundance of happy and familiar faces. He estimates 150 or so family and friends will be there, including his wife, Jan; sons, Tom and Duke (of Channel 5); daughter, Kate; and six grandchildren ranging from ages 10 to 18.
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“The Hall of Fame gives you a certain number of people you can bring,” he said, “which I exceeded.”
Castiglione has always treasured the relationships he has built with players and members of the Red Sox organization. Several will be there to salute him on Saturday, including Trot Nixon, Brian Daubach, former coach Lynn Jones, and 93-year-old former Sox manager Joe Morgan, who is one of his closest friends.
Former Cleveland slugger Andre Thornton, a star for the team when Castiglione landed his first full-time play-by-play gig in 1979, also will be there.
In the whirlwind weeks after he found out he would receive the Frick Award, Castiglione already had one welcome-to-the-club moment that he will never forget. Castiglione was waiting in between a pair of his granddaughter’s basketball games when his phone rang. It was from the 513 area code, which he immediately recognized as Cincinnati.
“I thought, ‘Well, the only one I know there is [former Reds broadcaster] Marty Brennaman, and his name would have come up.’ So I let it go to voicemail.”
The call wasn’t just from Cincinnati. It was from one of the city’s icons.
“Imagine my surprise when I heard the voicemail from Johnny Bench,” said Castiglione. “I called him back, and he picks up the phone and says, ‘Is this a Hall of Famer calling me?’ Then he said, ‘I just want to welcome you to the Hall of Fame.’ He does this with everybody. It’s a role he’s taken on to welcome people.”
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Bench’s kind congratulations came with some thoughtful advice.
“He told me to keep a diary because it goes by so fast,” said Castiglione. “You’re going to meet and be with so many great people, and it’s going to be a blur, and you will want to remember all of it, so write it down. So I’ve got this little journal I’m going to keep. I thought it was great advice.”
Castiglione has his favorite memories from his 42 years of calling Red Sox games — the four World Series victories, the ‘04 comeback against the Yankees, the regular-season victory that same season when “Varitek gave A-Rod the leather sandwich,” and Morgan Magic in 1988, when the Sox won 24 straight at home.
But as he prepares for the honor of his career, naturally it’s the people he’s thinking about. Family and players foremost, but also his broadcast partners along the way. His mentor, Ken Coleman. Johnny Pesky, Bob Starr, Jerry Trupiano (with whom he worked the longest, 15 years), Dave O’Brien, Tim Neverett, Will Flemming, Sean McDonough, and more.
They’re sure to be among those thanked Saturday, in the speech that percolated in Castiglione’s mind in years in which his Cooperstown dream went unfulfilled, and at last and so deservingly, in the year that it was.
Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GlobeChadFinn.