Mike Castellano using pro baseball experience to pursue sports radio

By Gabriella Kreuz

Mike Castellano says he's at peace with the end of his professional baseball career.  The mid-infielder from Brooklyn, New York is hanging up the cleats after spending four years playing in independent leagues around the country. Though he’ll miss playing, Castellano feels that his experience with baseball is helping launch him into his new career: sports talk radio. 

Over the last four years, he was accepted twice for the chance to earn a master’s degree through the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University; both times he deferred to keep playing ball.  Not this time. 

“I knew that if I didn’t go this time, I would have used up all my opportunities,” Castellano said.  “I thought it was a good idea to get back to school and you know, put the baseball career to rest finally.”

There’s a serenity in Castellano’s voice as he explains that, at age 26, he’s growing out of the peak years to climb the professional baseball ladder.  In 2010, he graduated from Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He had a strong urge to keep playing the sport he grew up on and loved. 

Castellano signed his first pro contract with the St. George Road Runners of the Golden Baseball League, one of the top independent leagues in the country at the time.  But the team eventually folded.  Castellano later signed a contract with the New York Federals of the CanAm League, but got cut after spring training.  Later in the year, the Federals signed him again, but that team folded too, voiding Castellano’s contract.  He took a year off in 2012 before playing a complete season with the Taos Blizzard of the Pecos League in 2013. 

Castellano describes the things that motivated him to keep playing despite the set-backs.

“We were treated very well,” Casteallno said. “We were up along the West Coast, so we took planes to Canada, nice bus rides, we stayed in really nice hotels, got fed really well, played in front of thousands of fans.”

Hitting .350 for the Road Runners also had an impact on Castellano’s decision to move forward with baseball.

“It kind of established the fact in my head that I could play at that level,” he said. “That’s when I moved on to play eventually to the Arizona winter league and to my next team in the CanAm League.”

Casteallano is moving on again, this time to a career he hopes will have more stability.  He was accepted for the third time to earn a master’s at Syracuse University and is finally pursuing the opportunity.  With visions of becoming a sports radio talk show host, Castellano is currently enrolled in the Television Radio Film program, with a Sports Communication Emphasis. He believes that his experience with baseball was time well spent and that it is already helping him get into the sports broadcasting business. 

“I know tons of people who played in the major leagues and that broadcasted on ESPN,” Casteallano said. “Some of this stuff I learned, just from being interviewed and sitting in on radio broadcasts when I played.  I think it could carry over well into what I’m trying to do here. “

https://soundcloud.com/user112704074/interview-with-mike-castellano

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Gab: What’s sort of the timeline, um, with your professional baseball career and your path to Newhouse?

Mike: Well, after I graduated college in 2010, I signed my first pro contract with the St. George Road Runners of the Golden Baseball league. They were based out of Utah. I played there for about two months, um, then the following winter in 2011, I played in the Arizona winter league, which is like a showcase league where players try to get signed for the following season. Then, through a contact, I signed a contract with the New York Federals of the CanAm League. I went to Spring Training with them in 2011, I got cut, then later in the year they signed me for again, like the last two months of the season.  Um then in 2012, that team folded also so my contract was voided. 2012 I didn’t play anywhere, then 2013 I played the whole season with the Taos Blizzard of the Pacos League, which is in Taos, New Mexico. And now I’m here.

Gab: With the teams folding and things like that, and you got cut at one point, what was that drive that kept you going, even after taking a year off, you still got into it. What kept you going the whole time?

Mike: Well, the first season I played, I was in one of the top independent leagues in the country, and it kinda like spoiled me a little bit. We were treated very well. We were up along the west coast, so we took planes to Canada, nice bus rides, we stayed in really nice hotels, got fed really well, played in front of thousands of fans. So, and I did really well there. I hit .350 for the time I was there. I had some success, so that kind of, it kinda established the fact in my head that I could play at that level. So it kept – it gave me the urge, to kinda want to continue, and that’s when I moved on eventually to the Arizona winter league and to my next team in the CanAm League.

Gab: And meanwhile, you mentioned that after your college graduation, you did apply to Newhouse and you got into the program, and you deferred and um, so what was your decision for, going full-force and doing the master’s now?

Mike: Well, I last year, I played in the Pecos league, which it’s kinda one of the lower independent leagues, so I played, ya know, kinda at the top and the bottom. I got a good um, experience of all the levels. And I didn’t play as much as I thought I should, and when I did, my numbers weren’t that good so, and was getting older for, ya know the baseball industry. Professional sports, it’s all about youth and stuff like that, so, it kinda, put the idea in my head that like, maybe I should walk away and, I had deferred already last year for Newhouse and I knew that if I didn’t go this time that would pretty much be all my, I would have used up all my opportunities, so I thought it was a good idea to get back to school and you know, put the baseball career to rest finally.

Gab: How has that transition, treated you?

Mike: It was kinda hard, because my dad, um he was a big catalyst in me playing, like he helped me obviously growing up and he played at a high level when he was young. And he still wants me to like go back and play, he’s always saying “If you want to go back and play, you should.” So it was kinda hard in that sense. For me, it wasn’t really that hard, because I knew that my talent-level was declining so to speak so, and I knew, like I said, that this was one of my last chances to go to Syracuse, so I went up on it.

Gab: What are you looking forward to most about Syracuse and what you want to do with that?

Mike: Well I like sports obviously, I’m in the Sports Communication Emphasis, to get into sports radio. And obviously Newhouse is renowned for their communications program, so hopefully, I could uh take some of the stuff I learned here and put it into the real world.

Gab: How do you think your baseball background is going to help you?

Mike: I think it helps pretty well, I mean already I made a lot of contacts through the baseball world with people, you know that I could use here like if I ever needed someone to interview I know tons of people that played in the major leagues and that broadcasted on ESPN and from all different backgrounds… I’d like to say I have some good connections already and some of this stuff I learned, just from being interviewed and sitting in on radio broadcasts when I played and stuff like that and I think it could carry over well into what I’m trying to do here.

Gab: What is your ultimate career goal now, at this point?

Mike: Ultimately I’d like to work in sports radio, hopefully like as a talk show host, um preferably in New York. One of my idols is Craig Carton who went here who I’m trying to interview for our class. He does that kinda like, he does a morning drive in New York and that’s where I’d like to end up. Just talking sports and stuff like that.