Luis Castillo (baseball)

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Luis Castillo

Luis Castillo playing for the Twins
New York Mets — No. 1
Second baseman
Born: September 12, 1975 (1975-09-12) (age 32) San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
August 8, 1996 for the Florida Marlins
Selected MLB statistics (through June 11, 2008)
Batting Average	.293
Runs Batted In	379
On Base Percentage	.368
Stolen Bases	336
Teams
Florida Marlins (1996-2005) Minnesota Twins (2006-2007) New York Mets (2007-present)

Luis Antonio Castillo (born September 12, 1975 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman with the New York Mets, who started play with the Florida Marlins in 1997. He has been selected for the MLB All Star Team three times, has been on teams that won the World Series twice, and has won three Gold Glove awards.

[edit] Minor league career

Castillo was drafted and signed by the Florida Marlins organization in 1994. He played his first year of baseball in the Gulf Coast League, playing for the Gulf Coast Marlins. He also set a Marlins record in short season in stolen bases, with 31.^[1] In 1995, he was called up to the Class-A Midwest League, and was selected to the all-star team. He injured his shoulder in July, causing him to miss the rest of the season. That year, he led the entire Marlins organization in batting average with .326, as well as being second in stolen bases.^[2] Castillo spent most of the 1996 season in the Eastern League, but was called up to the Marlins on August 8 of that season. His first major league hit was in a game against the New York Mets, where he knocked in the game-winning run batted in (RBI) in the 10th inning. He was named to the Eastern League all-star team and post season all-star team.^[3]

[edit] Florida Marlins

[edit] Rookie season

Castillo started playing full time for the Marlins at second base during the 1997 season. Both at age 21, he and Edgar Rentería were the youngest mid-infield combination in the history of National League. He bruised his left heel mid-season, and missed the entire month of May with the injury. He was optioned to the AAA Charlotte Knights on July 28 and did not come back to the major league level until his next season. Due to this, he did not play on the Marlins 1997 World Series champion team.^[4]

[edit] 1998-1999

Castillo remained on the Charlotte Knights until being called back up to the Marlins on August 4, 1998. While in Charlotte, he had a streak of 32 consecutive games reaching base safely. On the Marlins, his highest hit streak was eight games, on a stretch from August 14 to August 19. By the end of the season, he was third among Marlins minor leaguers in stolen bases, and a .203 batting average, 3 stolen bases, and 10 runs batted in.^[5] Castillo improved in 1999, with many short hitting streaks. These streaks included six games from May 10 to May 17, and six games from August 1 to August 7. He also had a career high 22 game hitting streak in a stretch of games from August 9 through September 3. He finished fourth in the league in stolen bases, and fourth among lead-off hitters in on-base percentage at .385. He was named the Most Valuable Player on the Marlins by the South Florida Chapter of the BBWAA.^[6]

[edit] 2000-2001

Castillo started the 2000 season with a seven game hitting streak from April 5 to April 12. However, he was placed on the disabled list with a strained back from April 16 to May 5. Before being placed of the disabled list, he began rehab in AAA Calgary. A week after coming back, he set a single-game team record with four stolen bases on May 17. He had 3 the next game, falling short of the National League record of 8 in two games, which was set by Walt Wilmot in 1894. That year, he also became the Marlins all-time stolen bases record by stealing his 116th career base on June 20 while playing the Milwaukee Brewers. He was awarded the Lou Brock award at the end of the season for leading the league in stolen bases.^[7] In 2001, he had two long hitting streaks, 8 games from May 6 to May 13, and 14 games from June 29 to July 22. He finished fifth in the league in stolen bases with 33. He also had a .263 batting average, 17 RBI, and 10 triples, a career high.^[8]

[edit] 2002

In 2002, Castillo had a 35-game hitting streak, which is the longest ever by any Latino player and is also the longest ever by any second baseman. In 2006, Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley matched Castillo's 35-game hitting streak. This was the sixth longest streak in the history of the National League, and also the tenth longest in the history of Major League Baseball. He was selected to the National League all star team and played in the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This was his first all-star selection of his career. He led the league in stolen bases, with 48, winning the Lou Brock Award for the second time in his career. He also hit .305 with 39 runs batted in. He was named the Most Valuable Player on the Marlins by the South Florida Chapter of the BBWAA for the second year in his career.^[9]

[edit] 2003: World Series

Castillo was also selected to the all-star team in 2003, his second career all-star selection. He also led the Marlins in hitting and won his first career Gold Glove award. Castillo was a member of the 2003 World Series Champion Florida Marlins, who defeated the heavily favored New York Yankees. He was a central figure in the Game 6 NLCS comeback by the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field after a foul ball that he hit was knocked away from Moises Alou by fan Steve Bartman. The Marlins went on to win that game and also Game 7 to get to the 2003 World Series, which the Marlins won. This was the second World Series of his career, but his first not on the disabled list.^[10]

[edit] 2004-2005

In 2004, Castillo had a .291 batting average with 47 runs batted in, a career best. He also had 2 home runs and 7 triples. He was second on the Marlins with a .373 on-base percentage and set a Marlins record with his 425th walk.^[11] In his final season with the Marlins, he was selected to his third all-star team, and won his third Gold Glove award in a row. He led the MLB in batting versus left-handed pitchers with a .423 average.^[12] Castillo was also a member of the 2005 National League All-Star team, and replaced Jeff Kent of the Los Angeles Dodgers at second base in the 2nd inning. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins on December 2, 2005, in exchange for two minor leaguers, Scott Tyler and Travis Bowyer. This occurred during the Florida Marlins' fire sale after the 2005 season. The Marlins replaced Castillo at second base with Dan Uggla, a Rule 5 selection from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

[edit] Minnesota Twins and New York Mets

[edit] 2006

Castillo began his only full season of play for the Minnesota Twins in 2006. He had a good first month of hitting, batting .432 with 19 hits. Over that stretch, Castillo got an RBI for five straight games from April 13 to April 19. Castillo had three four hit games for the Twins this season, on April 15, August 5, and August 9. He had a six game hitting streak from May 6 to May 13, and recorded his 300th career stolen base while facing the Chicago White Sox on August 26.^[13]

[edit] 2007

In the 2007 season playing for both the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins, Castillo set a new Major League Baseball record, going 143 games at second base without an error. He also recorded his 1,500th career hit on May 29 while facing the Chicago White Sox. Castillo was traded by the Twins to the New York Mets on July 30, 2007 for two minor league players, catcher Drew Butera and outfielder Dustin Martin. He finished the season with a .301 batting average, one home run, 38 RBI, and 19 stolen bases. On November 18, 2007 the Mets re-signed him to a 4-year contract worth a reported twenty-five million dollars.^[14]

[edit] Personal life

Castillo was in the class of 1991 at Colegio San Benito Abad in the Dominican Republic. He is married and has one child, Luis Jr., who was born on October 12, 2001.^[15]

[edit] Accomplishments

• Set a Major League Baseball record of 143 games without an error at second base (2006-2007) ^[16]
• 35-game hitting streak (2002)^[17]
• National League All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005)
• National League Gold Glove, Second base (2003, 2004, 2005)
• 2-time World Series Champion with the Florida Marlins: 1997 (he was injured and did not play), 2003
• In 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 he led the major leagues in ground ball percentage (63.6%, 65.0%, 62.8%, 61.5%, and 66.7%).^{[18][19][20][21]}
• Two-time Lou Brock Award winner (Most stolen bases)

[edit] See also

• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• Florida Marlins all-time roster

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• CBS Sportsline profile