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Tag: Alex Cora

  • See you in October: Red Sox clinch playoff spot on Rafaela’s walk-off triple

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    For the first time in four years, the Boston Red Sox will play postseason baseball.

    The Red Sox punched their ticket in dramatic fashion Friday night when Ceddanne Rafaela launched a triple to dead center field in the ninth inning off Detroit Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle. Romy Gonzalez scored from first base to give Boston a walk-off 4-3 victory, which secured its spot in the playoffs.

    Friday’s dramatic win helped end a three-year playoff drought for the franchise, which last made the postseason in 2021. That run included a win in the AL Wild Card Game over the Yankees and a 3-1 series win over the Rays in the American League Division Series. The Red Sox jumped out to a 2-1 series lead over the Astros in the American League Championship Series but lost three straight games to lose the series in six games. The Astros outscored the Red Sox 23-3 over those final three games.

    The Red Sox will look considerably different this postseason, as Garrett Whitlock is the only member of the active roster who played in that ALCS against Houston. (Tanner Houck, who made five appearances that postseason, remains on the Boston roster but went on the IL in May.) The 2021 season was manager Alex Cora’s first season back with the Red Sox after he served his season-long suspension from MLB in 2020.

    Though the ultimate story of the 2025 Red Sox will depend on what happens in the playoffs, making the playoffs at all was widely considered an impossibility as late as June, when the Red Sox traded superstar third baseman Rafael Devers and flip-flopped around the .500 mark for the entire month.

    They entered June in fourth place, 8.5 games out of first place in the AL East and 3.5 games out of a wild-card spot, and they finished the month in almost the same spot: seven games back in the East, three games out of the wild card.

    Yet a season-long 10-game winning streak before the All-Star break put the team above .500 for good. And though they emerged from that break to go 2-5, they’d win their next four series to firmly establish their place in the postseason picture.

    That footing was once again questioned in early September, when rookie sensation Roman Anthony suffered an oblique strain that ended his regular season and could keep him out of the entire postseason. A 5-8 stretch followed the Anthony injury but the Red Sox, at risk of falling out of the playoff picture, won consecutive road series in Tampa and Toronto to reestablish their spot, then punched their postseason ticket with their MLB-leading 10th walk-off win on Friday night.

    The Red Sox became the fourth team in the American League (and third in the AL East) to clinch a playoff spot, joining the Blue Jays, Mariners and Yankees. Their opponent is yet to be determined, but they’re almost certain to begin their postseason journey on the road for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

    They could be heading to New York, Detroit, Toronto or Cleveland, depending on how the weekend’s games play out across the league.

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    Michael Hurley

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  • Longtime Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione announces retirement following 42 seasons

    Longtime Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione announces retirement following 42 seasons

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Boston Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione said Sunday he is retiring at the end of the season, his 42nd calling the team’s games.

    Castiglione, 77, made the announcement on the WEEI broadcast as the Red Sox batted in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees.

    “For him to be part of our family is amazing. For him to spend more time with his family is great,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after a 5-2 loss. “We talked a little bit yesterday about it. I think everybody here and everybody in the (Red Sox) nation we know what he means to this organization.”

    Castiglione will remain with the team in an honorary ambassador role. The Red Sox will honor him before their regular-season finale on Sept. 29 against Tampa Bay.

    Castiglione joined Boston’s broadcast crew in 1983 during the final season for Hall of Fame outfielder Carl Yastrzemski and is the longest tenured play-by-play announcer in team history. He was on the air when the Red Sox ended an 86-year title drought by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 and called three more championships in 2007, 2013 and 2018.

    Castiglione received the Hall of Fame’s Ford. C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting last July. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014 along with Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens and Nomar Garciaparra, and in 2022 the home radio booth at Fenway Park was named the Joe Castiglione Booth.

    “After 42 seasons with the Red Sox and more than 6,500 games, I have decided it’s time to retire from a regular broadcast schedule,” Castiglione said in a statement released by the team. “While I feel I am at the pinnacle of my career … it’s time to spend more time with Jan, my bride of almost 53 years, my kids, and grandkids.”

    Castiglione began his broadcasting career at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, before calling big league games for Cleveland (1979, 1982) and Milwaukee (1981). He also broadcast games for the Cleveland Cavaliers and college basketball on NESN.

    “Joe is one of the greatest in baseball broadcasting,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in a statement. “His recognition by the Hall of Fame in July punctuated a career of vivid storytelling that has brought the game to life for generations of listeners.”

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

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