John Castino

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Anthony Castino (born on October 23, 1954 in Evanston, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball player. Castino played as an infielder, switching most of his time between third base and second base, with the Minnesota Twins from 1979 to 1984.

[edit] Professional Career

Castino graduated from the prestigous New Trier High School in Winnetka. Castino attended and played baseball for Rollins College, a private, nonsectarian university located in Winter Park, Florida.

After college, Castino was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1976 amateur draft. Castino made his major league debut with the Twins on April 6, 1979. Castino played fairly well in the season, and ended the season with a .285 batting average and 112 hits in 148 games. His performance led him to be voted as Rookie of the Year, along with Alfredo Griffin, who he tied in voting.

Over the next few seasons, Castino switched to other fielding positions, like second base and shortstop and continued to post fairly decent stats.

Soon, Castino started to suffer from chronic back pain, and his career was cut short in 1984 by a fused disc in his back. Castino played his final game with the Minnesota Twins on May 7, 1984.

On October 11, 1985, the Minnesota Twins released John Castino.