Joe Castiglione recognized for 30 years on the job

[thirdendorsed]

His best work was when he was with Starr and Bob used to run down to the 1200 Beacon Holiday Inn for a coupla quick ones then scurry back to the park

 

[Fenway1912]

His best work was when he was with Starr and Bob used to run down to the 1200 Beacon Holiday Inn for a coupla quick ones then scurry back to the park

It was well known that Mel Miller at WRKO was going to make a change for 1990 but EVERYBODY including Joe C thought he was gone.

WRKO fired Ken Coleman and brought in Bob Starr.

It is no secret than Ken had a serious drinking problem but at least in his Red Sox days it was not apparent on air.

A couple of years later WBUR hired Coleman to do BU football doing play by play. Ken was a disaster on air and kept referring to BU as 'The Eagles'.

Starr decided to go back to SoCal and Joe was promoted to #1 and Jerry Trupiano was #2.

Trup got caused in a crossfire as Larry Lucchino wanted Glenn Geffner and John Henry wanted Dave O'Brien (who was a Marlins announcer)

Joe C DEMANDED that when he was honored - Trup would be on the field.

I would rank the Red Sox announcers of my lifetime

• Ned Martin
  Curt Gowdy
  Ken Coleman

 

[johnster]

It is no secret than Ken had a serious drinking problem but at least in his Red Sox days it was not apparent on air.
I would rank the Red Sox announcers of my lifetime

I don't really want to blow my identity on this board but you might want to check your facts... You have Ken confused with someone else.... The only passion Ken had more that being sportscaster was the Jimmy Fund.

 

[raccoonradio]

I did a quick websearch and found a page called Bleacher Report: Cleveland Sportscaster Memories. It mentions Ken and doesn't mention a drinking problem but did say his son Ken "Casey" Coleman
(his initials, "K-C" inspired his nickname) did.

http://74.6.238.254/search/srpcache...4&icp=1&.intl=us&sig=Do0fx6Z9.M4EaGOQBCiEzA--

>>However, as sometimes happens among news-types, Casey got into drinking, starting in college, and increasing his intake over the years. His choice of potent liquid was vodka... I really couldn’t tell Casey had a drinking problem—he hid it quite well...Casey would be tried on DUI charges which were later dropped...Casey would later go into a 12-Step Program via Cleveland Clinic in dealing with his alcoholism. (by Andrew Boggs, 2009)

Casey Colemen died in 06 from pancreatic cancer

 

[Fenway1912]

It is no secret than Ken had a serious drinking problem but at least in his Red Sox days it was not apparent on air.
I would rank the Red Sox announcers of my lifetime

I don't really want to blow my identity on this board but you might want to check your facts... You have Ken confused with someone else.... The only passion Ken had more that being sportscaster was the Jimmy Fund.

Ken was a tireless promoter for the Jimmy Fund and ironically he died during the 2003 NESN/WEEI telethon.

I in no way trying to disparage Ken but WBUR had to let him go as he just was not prepared.

Why WRKO fired him in 1989 has never been made clear. It was not a cost cutting move as Bob Starr was paid very well to leave Anaheim.He wrote about it and said Mel Miller didn't give him a reason for the change.

I remember talking to him at a Red Sox fantasy camp in Florida (1991) and he said that he finally understood what happened to Jim Britt as it was happening to him.

 

[wickedwritah]

I don't remember Coleman doing BU football, I do remember him doing Harvard games on 1150 in the early to mid-'90s.

 

[raccoonradio]

I believe he did BU football on WBUR...later they eliminated the football program from the school

>>He matched that with 34 seasons of football...two for BU "He was the Forrest Gump of broadcasting," said BU hockey broadcaster Bernie Corbett, who worked a season with Mr. Coleman in covering Terrier football. "Wherever he went, championship games followed."

http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Media/Coleman.Ken.Obit.html

 

[thirdendorsed]

The late Mel Miller didn't fire Ken Coleman. Sports is operated as a separate division, the AM program director doesn't make that call.

It was the MBAs and self-styled experts who took over the station when RKO General sold out that decided Coleman was through. You might want to ring up Harvard-Pilgrim and ask their CEO what he had to do with it. Never mind the answer you get, he had a lot to do with gassing Coleman.

Trupiano was not brought in as #2. They were looking for a 1 and 1A. Castiglione simply isn't very good but managed to hang on as the number 2 guy long enough to become the main guy by attrition. Clearly he is being phased out in favor of O'Brien.

By the way, Coleman was not the boozer in the booth. There was some heavy drinking by PBP guys, but it wasn't him.

 

[thirdendorsed]

Oh, and one more thing on Coleman. I was never a fan and thought he knew Martin was a lot better than him and used his position, especially at WHDH to make sure he was the star rather than Ned.

But he was one of the great football announcers during the rise of the NFL in the50s and 60s, doing the Browns games through their dynasty years

 

[Fenway1912]

The late Mel Miller didn't fire Ken Coleman. Sports is operated as a separate division, the AM program director doesn't make that call.

It was the MBAs and self-styled experts who took over the station when RKO General sold out that decided Coleman was through. You might want to ring up Harvard-Pilgrim and ask their CEO what he had to do with it. Never mind the answer you get, he had a lot to do with gassing Coleman.

Trupiano was not brought in as #2. They were looking for a 1 and 1A. Castiglione simply isn't very good but managed to hang on as the number 2 guy long enough to become the main guy by attrition. Clearly he is being phased out in favor of O'Brien.

By the way, Coleman was not the boozer in the booth. There was some heavy drinking by PBP guys, but it wasn't him.

Steve Dodge was in control of ARS then - he was flush with cash after selling American Cable to Amos Hostetter. Coleman wrote that Mel Miller was the one who fired him when he expected to sign a new contract. WRKO moved their studios into the Harvard-Pilgrim building and they may have had ties with ARS.

John MacLean was let go in 1972 for drinking on air. Jim Woods had his moments as well.

Ned was a delightful man, very frugal and with no pretensions.

It was good to see Joe make sure Trup was on the field when the Red Sox honored him.

 

[thirdendorsed]

Eric Shultz, now CEO of Harvard-Pilgrim, was running WRKO when they pulled the plug on Coleman. With Kenny, the facts often took a back seat to his personal agenda, such as his book on the '67 Sox when he gave then-current owner and GM Haywood Sullivan credit for stuff that Dick O'Connell did during that season. Reason was simple, by then he owed his job to Sully and Sully hated O'Connell.

Coleman was fired by Atlantic Radio. ARS wasn't even formed until the mid-90s as part of a merger with groups headed by Tom Stoner and Dangerous Dave Pearlman. RKO was in the Harvard building from the time they sold the TV building after losing the license. Harvard and Pilgrim had not merged then and they still hadn't merged when Atlantic moved its stations to somewhere in the Back Bay, I forget where.

But no, Mel Miller wasn't picking play by play announcers. Bet on that one.


McLean was ill when he left, that's why an injured Yaz filled in for a while before Dave Martin was hired.

 

[Fenway1912]

Eric Shultz, now CEO of Harvard-Pilgrim, was running WRKO when they pulled the plug on Coleman. With Kenny, the facts often took a back seat to his personal agenda, such as his book on the '67 Sox when he gave then-current owner and GM Haywood Sullivan credit for stuff that Dick O'Connell did during that season. Reason was simple, by then he owed his job to Sully and Sully hated O'Connell.

Coleman was fired by Atlantic Radio. ARS wasn't even formed until the mid-90s as part of a merger with groups headed by Tom Stoner and Dangerous Dave Pearlman. RKO was in the Harvard building from the time they sold the TV building after losing the license. Harvard and Pilgrim had not merged then and they still hadn't merged when Atlantic moved its stations to somewhere in the Back Bay, I forget where.

But no, Mel Miller wasn't picking play by play announcers. Bet on that one.


McLean was ill when he left, that's why an injured Yaz filled in for a while before Dave Martin was hired.

So where did Steve Dodge fit in? He was the money man.

Jean Yawkey despised O'Connell as well. Haywood made a lot of money when he convinced Yawkey to leave Arizona for Winter Haven and tipped off some friends that Boston would come.

WRKO moved to Huntington Ave and I believe American Tower is still there.

One thing that has never been clear is what did Haywood do to anger Jean enough that John Harrington became the golden boy. Some have surmised it was over John McNamara. In any event once LeRoux was bought out by Jean in 1987 it was Harrington that she listened to and Haywood could not stop her.

 

[thirdendorsed]

There is also the explanation that O'Connell covered up Tom Yawkey's extra-curriculars, hence his swift firing by Jean fairly quickly after Tom's death.

The Haywood thing about the move to Fla is interesting. Sox went to Winter Haven for 1966. Sullivan began '65 as manager of the As triple A club in Vancouver and became KC's manager in May. Hard to see where he would have gotten Yawkey's ear about moving the spring training site, I'd guess they would have needed more than the three months that passed between his getting the front office job in Nov. and the start of the first Winter Haven spring.

Unless, of course, he was one of Yawkey's southern boy favorites while he was with Boston and remained on good terms with his bigoted boss, as is likely given the speed with which he went from disposed manager of a team that lost 103 games to a VP spot in Boston

 

[Fenway1912]

There is also the explanation that O'Connell covered up Tom Yawkey's extra-curriculars, hence his swift firing by Jean fairly quickly after Tom's death.

The Haywood thing about the move to Fla is interesting. Sox went to Winter Haven for 1966. Sullivan began '65 as manager of the As triple A club in Vancouver and became KC's manager in May. Hard to see where he would have gotten Yawkey's ear about moving the spring training site, I'd guess they would have needed more than the three months that passed between his getting the front office job in Nov. and the start of the first Winter Haven spring.

Unless, of course, he was one of Yawkey's southern boy favorites while he was with Boston and remained on good terms with his bigoted boss, as is likely given the speed with which he went from disposed manager of a team that lost 103 games to a VP spot in Boston

In 1964 O'Connell who ran the non-baseball part of the Red Sox while Mike Higgins was the GM. In the late 50's Pinky convinced Yawkey to move to Scottsdale claiming that there were less distractions and players would be focused on baseball. Higgins thought Ted Williams was more focused on fishing. However there was a more sinister motive that fueled the move. Scottsdale had a dusk to dawn curfew on Negros being in certain parts of the city.

O'Connell understood that nobody from New England wanted to go to Arizona for vacation and wanted to return to Florida. Haywood by this time was like a son to Tom and Jean and Haywood put the team in touch with some college buddies who were doing well in Polk County. Gabe Paul the GM of the Indians also lobbied for Winter Haven as his wife had been a showgirl there. Winter Haven was desperate for a team as the new Interstate-4 had bypassed it.

Haywood was hired by O'Connell in November of 65 as VP of player personnel and was Boston's top baseball person but over time O'Connell froze him out.

Haywood's broadcast angle was giving the rights to WPLM as he was a golf buddy of the owner.

 

[thirdendorsed]

Fenway's description of Haywood's role in Winter Haven makes sense. The behind-the-scenes story of the Red Sox front office in the 66-70 range is a great untold story. The '66 Gosger/Sanders for Wyatt/Tartabull trade, two white guys for a black and a Hispanic, really stands out.

Best part of the WPLM broadcasts were forgetting to reset the radio after a night game and waking up to the beautiful sounds of Well W W E L. Thanks Arnie.

Second best part was when they gave the continuity person a credit in every game. They can't do that on WEEI because they have, flat-out, the worst traffic and continuity operation in major market broadcasting. It's probably their systems more than their people, but the number of outdated spots that run on that station is staggering.

Here's an idea: Put spots on carts and label them with a kill date.

 

[Fenway1912]

Haywood knew Wyatt and Tartabull from Kansas City.

Haywood was not racist per say but he was a product of the deep south where the culture was racist.

Right off the bat there were problems in WH
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R_lRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-XMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3709,4798285&hl=en

Earl Wilson would be traded to Detroit for a bag of balls and that would hurt the Red Sox as Wilson won over 20 games for the Tigers in 1967. If Wilson had stayed they might have beaten St. Louis. Who ordered Wilson traded? Haywood was the baseball guy.

One thing I heard years ago that O'Connell was hesitant to have black players in Boston because as business manager he heard over and over that Braves attendance collapsed because they integrated early and he feared the same would happen to the Red Sox and by 1965 Fenway attendance had tanked to levels not seen since the early 30's. 67 happened and the boomers were also coming of age and they were more color blind than their parents.

Jane Day ran a tight ship at WPLM. I agree that today WEEI is a joke - Bring back carts.

Fenway's description of Haywood's role in Winter Haven makes sense. The behind-the-scenes story of the Red Sox front office in the 66-70 range is a great untold story. The '66 Gosger/Sanders for Wyatt/Tartabull trade, two white guys for a black and a Hispanic, really stands out.

Best part of the WPLM broadcasts were forgetting to reset the radio after a night game and waking up to the beautiful sounds of Well W W E L. Thanks Arnie.

Second best part was when they gave the continuity person a credit in every game. They can't do that on WEEI because they have, flat-out, the worst traffic and continuity operation in major market broadcasting. It's probably their systems more than their people, but the number of outdated spots that run on that station is staggering.

Here's an idea: Put spots on carts and label them with a kill date.

 

[thirdendorsed]

Sox acquired eight established American Black players during Yawkey's lifetime. Willie Tasby in 60, George Smith for Monbo in 65, Elston Howard in 67, Floyd Robinson in 68, JarvisTatum as a throw-in in the Tony C. deal 70, Tommy Harper after 71 season, Fergie Jenkins, 1975 and Bobby Darwin 1976. Only Smith, Harper, Howard and Jenkins were regulars.

 

[ArtSpooner]

Sox acquired eight established American Black players during Yawkey's lifetime. Willie Tasby in 60, George Smith for Monbo in 65, Elston Howard in 67, Floyd Robinson in 68, JarvisTatum as a throw-in in the Tony C. deal 70, Tommy Harper after 71 season, Fergie Jenkins, 1975 and Bobby Darwin 1976. Only Smith, Harper, Howard and Jenkins were regulars.

How about George Scott, Reggie Smith, and of course Pumpsie Green? Or are you only counting acquisitions, as opposed to coming up as rookies?

 

[thirdendorsed]

How about George Scott, Reggie Smith, and of course Pumpsie Green?  Or are you only counting acquisitions, as opposed to coming up as rookies?

Qualifying statement pursuant to terms of service and the pomposity of moderators: I first heard of the existence of all ballplayers herein cited on the radio.

Excellent point, the fact that the farm organization was allowed to produce black ballplayers while the big league club avoided them must speak to the way decisions were made in the organization. I also find it curious that they would acquire all sorts of Spanish players, such as Marichal, Aparicio, Cepeda (to name three Hall of Famers), as well as very popular players such as Luit Tiant, Jose Santiago, Mike Fornieles, Felix Mantilla, Vicente Romo, Jose Azcue and others.

The first trade for a Spanish player I can find is Billy Goodman for Fornieles in 57, a trade much like Pete Runnels for Roman Mejias in 1962. The first non-Cuban Hispanic acquisition seems to have been Mantilla and to get him they dealt Pumpsie. Of course, Felix was traded away for Eddie Kasko, the whitest human in the history of organized baseball.

To your list of black players up through the organization I would add Joe Foy, Roger Moret. Lynn McGlothlin, Jim Rice, Cecil Cooper and I'm sure there were others in a similar period. Reggie and Foy were draftees from Minnesota which again raises the issue of whether there was some sort of below-ground color-blind operation in the Red Sox organization that carefully brought in blacks and then spring them on Uncle Tom when they were proven to be of major league caliber.  Consider also the hype given George Spriggs in 66 or 67 after he was taken from Pittsburgh.

BTW, on my list I think I left out the purchase of Lenny Green from Balt prior to the
65 season, the  Bressoud for Joe Christopher trade after 65 and a waiver deal for Bob Veale circa 1971.

 

[CTListener]

Add Juan Marichal to the list of Latin American Hall of Famers acquired by the Red Sox.

As has been said, the Sox were more than willing to trade for Latinos. In 1969, Ken Harrelson (along with Dick Ellsworth and yet another Latino Sox acquisition, Juan Pizarro) was traded for Sonny Siebert and two Latinos -- the Mexican pitcher Vicente Romo and the Cuban catcher Joe Azcue, the latter of whom mysteriously quit the team within weeks of the trade and wound up being sent to the Angels for Tom Satriano.