Chris Castellani is the epitome of trusting the process
DETROIT (BVM) – Everyone has a different story to tell. When Chris Castellani looks back on his, he won’t even know where to begin. What has and will continue to be a wild ride all came to be because he bet on himself. The odds were stacked against him, but his passion for what he loves came out on top in the end.
After dropping out of college to pursue a career with Barstool Sports, or any big sports media company, Castellani did what he knew best: talked about his beloved Detroit Tigers. After every single Tiger game, he would post two-minute, 20-second videos on Twitter recapping the game and giving his analysis. Some did better than others, yet slowly but surely, more people were starting to notice.
What really got Castellani some notoriety for the first time was from a video after a 2017 July loss to the Cleveland Indians. It was a bad loss, and the reason the video did so well was because Castellani was screaming, yelling, and swearing in his car. While it was cool to see a video start to have decent numbers, it came with conflicting emotions.
“The experience at the time was incredible,” Castellani said. “It was the first taste I had of viral fame, and it was highly humbling. I think I’ve probably been a little more negative than I should be about it. While it’s good content, it came at a time in my life when I wasn’t doing so great, and the person who appeared in that video is not a reflection of the person talking to you today. However, I do get why people like it.”
Castellani knew he had so much more to offer than yelling in his car about Jordan Zimmermann. He has a great baseball mind, and knows how to make compelling points and arguments. While the Cleveland video didn’t necessarily showcase those talents, it got eyes on him. As he slowly deviated from the ranter into the intelligent fan breaking down a baseball game, more and more eyes were on him. The funny entertainer was still there, but many started to take notice that he actually knew what he was talking about when it comes to the sport as well.
“I like providing insight,” Castellani said. “And I enjoy breaking down the game, but the No. 1 goal is to entertain people at the end of the day. To know that you’re bringing positivity to people’s lives, even if it’s just for two-minutes, 20-seconds at a time, is a pretty rewarding experience.”
Even as his popularity grew from the postgame videos, there was still so much work to be done. There were still higher goals to achieve, still more to be accomplished than being Twitter famous. Just like anything else in life, there were many times where it looked like a lost cause.
Sure, there were some local Tiger fans who liked his videos. But there’s no career out there that consists of a two-minute baseball game recap. Giving up seemed to be on the horizon, but that passion for what he loves just wouldn’t allow him to fully cave.
I tried going against the grain and while it has led to some great things, ultimately the critics were right. My videos have led to some amazing moments in my life and at their height, they became something I thought would open up career opportunities. That was stupid.
— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) February 7, 2019
“It’s still tricky,” Castellani said of continuing to grind through the tough times. “I think there’s a misconception that once you land an excellent job or have financial security, life is just going to get better instantaneously. That’s not the case. What kept me going is knowing that I have a platform where I can tell my story. Knowing that one day I’m going to get out of this and help people find their own reason to keep grinding and get out of bed in the morning.”
It’s a good thing he didn’t give up, because eventually, he caught the eye of the right people. In February of 2020, Castellani was hired by Locked On Podcast Network to host “Locked on Tigers,” a daily Detroit Tigers podcast. What was a huge step in the right direction for him, was of course, met with some more adversity. Just a month after being hired, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I didn’t want to complain about it because that time was so heartbreaking for so many people,” Castellani said. “I felt like I was not in any place to complain when people had it way worse than I did. But it was incredibly frustrating to get a job talking about baseball, and then baseball gets shut down for months on end. I was proud of the content I created during that time, but I’d be lying to you if I told you that I wasn’t highly frustrated by the situation.
“A majority of my frustration lied with how Major League Baseball handled that situation. I still believe they could’ve played more than 60 games, and they just fumbled the bag.”
Eventually, the world returned to a sense of normalcy. Castellani was able to podcast about the Tigers on “Locked On” during the 2020 season, and of course still put his 2:20 recaps on Twitter. Just because he had a new job doesn’t mean he was going to stop doing what got him there.
A little over a year after being hired by “Locked On,” it was more of the same for Castellani. He was doing his Tigers postgame videos and his podcast. He also was doing some movie reviews on YouTube, another passion of his, along with putting out some University of Michigan athletics content as well. Castellani was also working at Speedway to bring in some extra cash, a job he worked strictly mornings so he could always watch his Tigers.
“What frustrated me for so long is I just felt like I was never getting anywhere,” Castellani said. “My primary source of income was still working at a gas station, and while there’s no shame in that, I knew that I could do more. There were a lot of times when I was considering moving on from it because it just seemed like nothing was materializing, and nothing did emerge for so long.”
Then, on May 18, 2021, Spencer Turnbull threw a no-hitter. A super cool moment for Turnbull and the Tigers, but also a moment that changed Castellani’s life forever. As always, he put out a postgame video and talked about the game on his podcast, but this time he added a twist. Castellani also put out a live-reaction video to the end of the no-hitter, showcasing his true and organic elation to watching the final out.
https://twitter.com/Castellani2014/status/1394882398517698568
Pure joy. Nothing artificial, no click-bait. Just a guy who loves his team and was elated to see them succeed. The one negative to the awesome moment was that the game was on the West Coast, and Castellani still had all of his postgame obligations. It meant that morning shift at Speedway was going to come much too soon.
As he woke up, ready for another day with not enough sleep, Castellani checked his phone and almost did a double take. Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, had sent him a DM. He wanted to talk to Castellani about potentially working for him over at Barstool. He saw his live reaction to the Turnbull no-hitter, thanks to a shoutout from fellow Barstool employee, Jared Carrabis.
“To call it surreal is an understatement,” Castellani said. “One thing I like about Dave is that he’s upfront and he doesn’t beat around the bush. He talks directly to you and tells you what he wants, so the interactions that we had that day, while limited, were very to the point.”
Even in absolute shock, he still had a shift to work. He got to Speedway, and took a phone call from Portnoy. He made it this far being himself, and the phone call wasn’t going to be any different. Castellani was the same as always, unapologetically himself. He explained to Portnoy what he was all about and what he can provide to the team.
The dream became a reality, as Castellani was hired by Barstool Sports. In what was a life-altering moment for him, felt like one for Tigers fans and the Detroit community as well. It was as if they had grown up with him. The kid screaming in his car about Jordan Zimmermann years ago was finally being hired by his dream company, it was impossible to not be happy for him, especially after he put out a video where he was once again unapologetically himself, telling the world that he was finally where he wanted to be.
I have accepted a job with @barstoolsports pic.twitter.com/zJQnAWCrmu
— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) May 19, 2021
“I think it took about 2-3 takes,” Castellani said of the viral announcement video. “I was trying to get the words right at the beginning. Once I got all that down, I couldn’t get through it without crying. As for the response, it was both awesome and overwhelming. It took me a while to enjoy it. I was getting messages from so many people. It’s a good problem to have, but I would say about a week later was when it really started to sink in.
“I got to interview Spencer Turnbull, the guy who changed my life, and Robbie Grossman hit a two-run, walk-off home run to beat the Yankees. I remember thinking that was probably the happiest I’d ever been in my life. I’ve never experienced happiness quite like this. I’m hoping that I can feel that feeling again at some point soon. It was like being free for the first time. I’ll never forget it.”
In what has been a little under a year now, Castellani has been loving his new job at Barstool. He writes about pro sports, college sports, movies, and more. He also does trivia and co-hosts a new podcast, and he’s loving it all. The best part, though, is that he still does his Tiger postgame videos after every game, because that’s what got him to where he is today.
“One postgame that I loved was a video I made after the Tigers beat the Blue Jays last year,” Castellani said. “In the eighth inning, Victor Reyes hit an inside-the-park home run to win the game, and I made the video at Comerica Park. A kid came up to me during the video and asked for my autograph, which was completely unexpected and unplanned. It’s gratifying to see how my videos have now affected different generations of people.”
Game 129 vs Toronto Blue Jays- Victor Reyes, the unstoppable force pic.twitter.com/7afGrjsXoD
— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) August 28, 2021
Good things happening to good people is something the world needs. One of the best anecdotes of Castellani’s entire story is that after getting the life-changing call from Portnoy, he went right back to work at Speedway. He put in his two-weeks notice, and still showed up each and every day to finish out his contract. He was just hired by Barstool, he could’ve walked right out of that Speedway and never looked back. But that’s not who Castellani is. He does things the right way, and was insistent on finishing out his two weeks before leaving.
Sports heroes are great, there are inspiring stories all over the place. But many would be hard-pressed to find one like this. Castellani is a lesson to us all that if you are passionate about something, you can absolutely make it happen. There are no excuses, nothing is insurmountable. Just ask the guy who started by making Twitter videos in his car, he knows a little something about that.
