TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
Bobby Castillo who pitched for the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Dodgers died on June 30th in a Los Angeles hospital after a battle with cancer. The 5’10” right-handed pitching Castillo was originally drafted by the Kansas City Royals in round 6 of the Jaanuary 1974 amateur draft. The Los Angeles Dodgers purchased Castillo from the Royals in June of 1977 and Castillo pitched for the Dodgers from 1977-1981 posting a 13-14 record with a 3.42 ERA in 138 games primarily in relief.
The Twins acquired Castillo along with outfielder Bobby Mitchell from the Dodgers in a January 1982 trade for pitcher Paul Voigt and utility man Scotti Madison. The Twins turned Castillo into a starter in 1982 and the man who had never pitched more than 99 innings in a season for the Dodgers had a career season going 13-11 with 3.66 ERA in 25 starts. Castillo also pitched 15 games in relief and when the Twins dismal 60-102 season finally ended, Castillo had pitched 218.2 innings. In 1983 Castillo was 8-12 in 25 starts with a 4.77 ERA and in 1984 he pitched sparingly for the Twins mostly in relief (just 10 games) and had a 2-1 record with a 1.78 ERA. Castillo became a free agent after the 1984 season and resigned with the Dodgers where he pitched his final big league season in 1985. Castillo, who attended Lincoln High School, finished with a career record of 38-40 with a 3.94 ERA in 250 games, making 59 starts. He pitched for LA in the 1981 National League Championship Series, the World Series that same year and the 1985 NLCS. After his big league career had ended, Castillo pitched for the Monterrey Sultanes and the Mexican League in 1986 and the Chunichi Dragons in the Japanese Central League in 1987.
Castillo, also affectionately known as “Babo,” has often been credited with teaching former Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela his infamous screwball. “I was very saddened to hear about Bobby’s passing this morning,” Castillo’s former teammate Fernando Valenzuela said.”“He was a great teammate and friend. I’ll always be grateful for his influence on my pitching. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”
Castillo has been dedicated member of the Dodger organization since his retirement, participating in events including hospital visits, autograph signings and kids holiday parties and baseball clinics.
He is survived by his mother, Nellie, daughters, Mellanie and Sara, son-in-law, Andrew Sanchez, son Robert III, and his sister, Lorraine, and her husband, Peter Gonzalez. Castillo had three nieces and nephews, nine grand nieces and nephews and two grandchildren, Jackson and Lila.
The Twins second round pick in this years June amateur draft was right-handed pitcher Nick Burdi. The 6 foot 4 inch 215-pound Burdi used primarily as a closer for the University of Louisville had a 0.49 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 37 innings as a junior for Louisville this past season. He recorded 18 saves in 32 games.
The Twins originally drafted Burdi in 2011 in the 24th round out of Downers Grove South High School in Illinois, outside of Chicago, but he went to school instead. Burdi’s fastball has been clocked above 100 miles per hour.
According to the Louisville Courier-Journal Burdi was upset that it took 46 picks to have his name called, telling reporters after the draft that he was “pissed” and would enter professional ball with a chip on his shoulder. Burdi signed with Minnesota on June 24th for $1.218 million (per Baseball America) and was assigned to the Twins Cedar Rapids Low-A team.
Nick Burdi
Burdi made his first appearance with the Kernels this past Sunday when he entered the game against the Clinton LumberKings in the top of the ninth with his home team leading 4 to 0. Burdi walked the first four batters he faced and was relieved by Jared Wilson who proceeded to give up four hits and a walk and when the smoke cleared the LumberKings had put a “7” on the board and the shucked Kernels ended up losing the game 7-4.
Burdi’s line for the game? Zero innings pitched, four walks, four runs, all earned and an ERA of infinity. A game I am sure that Burdi will never forget. Hopefully the man with a chip on his shoulder will take this game for what it was, a learning experience. Good luck in the future Nick, your humble pie is on the way.
The 20-year old Jorge Polanco‘s stay in the big leagues with the Twins is expected to end today when the Twins are expected to send him back to the minor leagues. Polanco was called up from the Ft. Myers Miracle of the High A ball Florida State league on June 26th making Polanco the fifth Twins player to make the mammoth leap to the big leagues from class A ball.
Jim Manning
The first player in this exclusive group was 18-year old right-handed pitcher Jim Manning who was called up very early in 1962 from the class A Charlotte Hornets in the Sally League. Manning was only in his second year of pro ball after having signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1961 and pitching in just 12 games for the Wytheville Twins in the Appalachian League in 1961. Manning became the youngest Minnesota Twins player to appear in a big league game when he debuted in relief on April 15, 1962 at the age of 18 years and 268 days against the Los Angeles Angels at Met Stadium in a 6-3 Twins loss. Manning appeared in four more games for the Twins before being sent down to the minors and to never again put on a big league uniform.
Butch Wynegar
The second Twins player to make the jump from class A to the majors was catcher Butch Wynegar. Wynegar was a Twins second round pick in 1974. Harold Wynegar, better known as Butch spent the 1975 season playing for the class A Reno Silver Sox and made the 1976 Twins team out of spring training and was a major leaguer from the day he made his big league debut on April 9, 1976 at Arlington Stadium at the age of 20 years and 26 days.
Player number three was non other than Twins Hall of Fame and Minnesota native first baseman Kent Hrbek. Hrbek, a 17th round pick in the 1978 draft for the Twins was playing in his third season of pro ball for the class A Visalia Oaks after stops in Elizabethton in 1979 and Wisconsin Rapids in 1980 when the Twins called him up in August 1981 and he made his debut at Yankee Stadium at the age of 21 year and 95 days on August 24, 1981. Hrbek never returned to the minors again. SABR Bio on Hrbek.
Jim Eisenreich
Player number four was another Minnesota native, outfielder Jim Eisenreich who was drafted by the Twins as a 16th rounder in 1980. Eisenreich spent time in Elizabethton and Wisconsin Rapids in 1980 and 1981 before coming north with the Minnesota Twins after making the club in spring training in 1982. Jim debuted at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 at the age of 22 years and 353 days. Eisenreich was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome and chose to retire causing him to miss all of the 1984 and 1985 seasons before making a comeback with the Kansas City Royals and going on to enjoy a very productive 15 year career with five major league teams although only 48 of his 1,422 big league games were spent in a Twins uniform. Eisenreich SABR Bio.
But getting back to Mr. Polanco, though he never had a chance to play in Target Field in front of home town fans during this call-up the switch-hitting shortstop garnered a loyal following among Twins fans that are looking to see him in the big leagues once again. Polanco appeared in four games getting seven plate appearances that included getting two walks and two hits and three RBI’s. His hits were a double and a triple. MLB ProspectWatch did a little blog on Polanco that you might want to check out. I think the most interesting part of the blog was the Baseball Prospectus scouting report on Polanco.
Outfielder Oswaldo Arcia is quickly climbing up the leader board on a list he would rather not be a part of. Saying that Arcia is in a slump is an understatement as he battles through an 0 for his last 29 at bats streak. The last time Arcia had a knock that counted was back on June 5th when he had a double off Brewer reliever Rob Wooten at Target Field and that was almost three weeks ago. A couple of more “ofer” games and he could become the Twins (and franchise leader going back to 1914) in at bats without a hit for a position player. The current leader on the Twins hitless at bats leader board is former catcher Butch Wynegar who had a pretty bad September himself back in 1978 when he went 0 for 38.
UPDATE – Arcia hit a home run in his first at bat against the Angels Garrett Richards on June 25th and his hitless streak finally came to an end at 29 at bats.
Twins position players with hitless streaks lasting 25 at bats or more
Twins Hall of Fame shortstop Greg Gagne made the list twice, ouch. If you included pitchers on the list you would find the hitting challenged Twins starter Dean Chance sitting at number one on the list with a hitless 0 for 52 streak that lasted 23 games from April 13 to July 23, 1967.
Come on Oswaldo, get a hit because this is not a record I want to see get broken!
A two-hour and 6 minute rain delay before last nights Twins game at Target Field started was no biggie for Twins starter Yohan Pino. After all, he has toiled in the minors for 10 years and waited 30 years and 175 days before making his Major League debut against the White Sox on Thursday.
The right-hander went seven innings, giving up two runs and five hits and one walk while striking out seven, but was lifted after 7 innings with the score knotted at 2-2. His seven strikeouts were the second most in franchise history in a debut, tying him with Darrell Jackson and Bert Blyleven, and trailing only Boof Bonser‘s eight strikeouts set in 2006.
Andrew AlbersAlex McColl
Pino also became the oldest starting pitcher to make a big league debut in Twins history, passing Andrew Albers, who was 27 years and 304 days old when he made his debut with the Twins just last season. The Twins released Albers this past January allowing him to sign with a South Korean team. Albers ended up signing with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. The oldest pitcher in franchise history to debut in the big leagues was Alex McColl who pitched in his first game for the Washington Senators in 1933 at the age of 39 years and 151 days.
Oldest Twins rookie pitchers to debut in big leagues and have at least one start
If you look at the list of pitchers on the list above you will see that none of them were a starter for the Minnesota Twins for very long and in most cases most of them did not pitch for the Twins or anyone else for any length o time. Les Straker did start two World Series games for the Twins in 1987. History seems to indicate that if you do not debut in the big leagues before your 26th birthday (at least with the Twins), the odds are very much against you. We can hope that Yohan Pino has better luck but don’t bet the farm on it. Kyle Gibson just missed being on this list because his big league debut occurred in 2013 at the age of 25 and 249 days.
Frank Vioa called the Metrodome home from 1982 – 1989. Second most wins in Dome history (59) and innings pitched (934.0). Viola was 3-1 in the 1987 postseason, winning Games 1 and 7 of the 1987 World Series.
Back in 1981 the Minnesota Twins used their first round pick (eleventh overall) in the June Amateur draft to select power hitting third baseman Mike Sodders from Arizona State University. With their second selection in the draft and 37th pick overall the Twins went after left-handed pitcher Frank Viola from St. John’s University. Just as an FYI, with the last pick in round two the New York Yankees selected Stanford outfielder John Elway. Elway would never play in a big league baseball game but he didn’t do to shabby throwing the football for the Denver Broncos. Would He Rather Be A Unitas Or A Mantle? Sports Illustrated, April 11, 1983
After just 286 games between “A” ball and “AAA” ball the Twins gave up on Sodders and traded him to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Rusty Kuntz in June of 1983. By the end of 1984 Sodders was out of baseball without having put on a big league uniform. But this blog is not about Sodders, it is about the Twins second round pick Frank Viola.
Viola started his professional career in 1981 with the AA – Orlando Twins playing for manager Roy McMillan where he went 5-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 17 games (15 starts). In 1982 Viola started the season in AAA – Toledo but was called up by the Twins in early June and made his debut on June 6th in a start against Earl Weaver‘s Baltimore Orioles in the Metrodome. Viola lasted just 4 1/3 innings that day giving up six hits, three walks, three earned runs and three strikeouts and left the game trailing 3 to 1. The Twins tied up the game later but ended up losing the game 7-5 in 11 innings. This inauspicious start may not have been what the Twins or Viola were expecting but it was the beginning of a wonderful 15 year big league career for “Sweet Music” that would include a World Championship in Minnesota in 1987 where he took home the Series MVP trophy. The following season in 1988 Viola won the AL Cy Young award as well as being named the AL Sporting News Pitcher of the Year. In his eight years in Minnesota Viola was 112-93 with a 3.73 ERA before money became an issue and the Twins were forced to trade him to the New York Mets on July 31, 1989 for Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, David West and a PTBNL that turned out to be Jack Savage. Viola played in New York for three seasons winning just 38 games but he won 20 of those in 1990. The three-time All-Star then moved on to Boston from 1992-1994, the Reds in 1995 and finished his big league career with the Bluejays in 1996.
After he retired, Viola coached baseball for Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, Florida as well as the Florida College Summer League’s Leesburg Lightning. On January 26, 2011, Viola was hired as pitching coach of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets’ Single-A (Short Season) team in the New York-Penn League. He was pitching coach for the Savannah Sand Gnats in 2012-2013.
All this leads up to the reason for this post, a nice story about Frankie in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that was written by Ed Graney on June 7th as Viola return to his job as pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51’s after under-going heart surgery. You think you have had a rough year? Take a few minutes and see what Viola has gone through.
Frank’s son Frank Viola III was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2004 and spent two seasons in rookie ball, ended up leaving professional ball and now is trying a come back with a knuckleball. Viola’s daughter Brittany is a diver who competed at the United States Olympic Trials in 2004 and 2008 and made the team for the 2012 Olympics.
The Twins announced yesterday morning that they have signed free agent DH/first baseman Kendrys Morales to a one year, prorated, $12 million deal. The prorated dollars come out to about $7.5 million. Since Morales who is represented by Scott Boras will not spend the full season with the Twins, they will not be able to extend him a qualifying offer next off-season. Rumors were rampant as early as Saturday that the Twins and Morales had agreed on a deal but it was not announced until after a physical was completed. Morales will wear uniform number 17 as a Minnesota Twin.
The Cuban born Morales who will be 31 in a few days has played in 620 career games, hitting .280 with 130 doubles, 102 home runs, 345 RBI, 280 runs scored and 165 walks. He was originally signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent in 2005. The Angels traded Morales to the Seattle Mariners in 2012 for pitcher Jason Vargas. Morales became a free agent after the 2013 season.
Morales was one of several players this offseason who struggled in the free agent market after declining a $14.5 million qualifying offer. Stephen Drew only recently signed his prorated one-year deal with the Red Sox, and outfielder Nelson Cruz ultimately took a one-year deal with the Orioles. All three players ended up with significantly less than they would have gotten if they had accepted their qualifying offers.
The Twins immediately placed the switch-hitting Kendrys Morales on their 25 man roster and to clear a roster spot the team designated outfielder Jason Kubel for assignment. Kubel was the Twins 12th round pick in 2000 and made his big league debut with the club in August 2004. Kubel left Minnesota as a free agent after the 2011 season and signed with Arizona where he played in 2012 and part of 2013 before the D-backs traded him to Cleveland for cash and a PTBNL. Kubel again tried free agency after the 2013 season and ended up resigning with his original team, the Minnesota Twins. Kubel had a strong April but fell on difficult times in May. Kubel appeared in 45 games for the Twins this season, hitting .224 (35-for-156) with one home run, six doubles and 13 RBI.
The Morales signing was kind of surreptitious as Minnesota was not linked to being in the hunt for Morales. According to the so-called experts teams like the Orioles, Rangers, and the Yankees were the front-runners to sign Morales. The timing of Terry Ryan and the Twins however; was impeccable as the Rangers just lost Mitch Moreland for at least 3 months for ankle reconstruction and they might have made a serious run at Morales and priced the Twins out of the market. Just a week or so earlier the Rangers lost their starting first baseman Prince Fielder for the season due to neck surgery.
Most Twins fans were shocked or at the very least pleasantly surprised with the Morales signing which seems to go against the grain of how the club has operated and looked at free agents in the past. With the club in last place in the AL Central, adding a player of this caliber in early June with no guarantee of signing him for the future does not seem to make a lot of sense from a baseball perspective. The Twins are 29-32 and last in the division but they are only 5 games out of the first place and a case can be made that they are in the playoff hunt but realistically you have to say that the odds are slim at best. Jumping over four teams in your division is not an easy task when each team in the division has to play each other 18 times. The wild card is a better possibility but that too is a long shot this year.
There is no doubt that the 2014 Twins are hitting challenged. The Twins have scored 266 runs this season which averages out to 4.36 runs per game, at the current pace the team will score about 706 runs. The Twins best runs per game average was 5.41 in 1996 and their worst was 3.44 in 1981. Last year the Twins scored runs at a pace of 3.79 per game, third worst in team history. This years team is hitting for a .245 batting average, sixth worst in their 54 year team history. Their RISP average this season is .228 which is the second worst RISP in team history and the only Twins team that had a lower RISP (at .225) was you guessed it, the 2013 Twins. How long has Tom Brunansky been the hitting coach? Oh yeah, two years. Maybe the Twins front office should look to make some changes there also. I know you need to have good players but maybe the hitting strategy of the hitting coach is just not a good match here.
So why else would the Twins invest $7.5 million in a player for about 100 games with the team in last place? The Twins business side has to be screaming “help me!”. Fan attendance at Target Field has been dropping like a rock since 2011 and even the fact that Minnesota is hosting the 2014 All-Star game can’t stop the attendance slide. Since 2010 when Target Field opened with a season ticket base of 25,000, the season ticket holder base has dropped to 23,000 in 2012, 19,000 in 2013, and 17,000 this season and would have dropped a lot lower had the lure of tickets to the 2014 All-Star game not caused some fans to hold on for just one more season.
The Twins appear to have bottomed out in 2013 and are on the way back towards respectability with some nice free agents signings, some trades and a strong farm system bolstered by high draft choices due to the teams poor play since 2010. The Twins may be playing better baseball but attendance is down about 4,574 fans per game this season and the Twins need to turn that around as soon as possible and the best way to do that is to put a good product on the field. You can’t make the Twins a playoff contender over night but an investment of about $7.5 million in Morales sends a message to the team and its loyal fans that it is willing to spend money to make money. There is not a business in existence today that will not tell you that it is much less expensive to retain a loyal customer then it is to try to attract a new loyal customer. That is one of the reasons that the Twins signed Kendrys Morales to play at Target Field. The Twins are not stupid, they are being proactive for a change instead of being strictly reactive and doing what they can to generate fan interest while this team is rebuilding.
I understand why the Twins need a player like Kendrys Morales from a baseball perspective and why they need him from a business perspective but I can’t help thinking that there is more here then meets the eye. I believe in my gut feelings, don’t believe in coincidences and I have said many times before that my “glass is half empty and is leaking” philosophy has served me well during my years. I have followed the Twins since 1961 and I have found that the Twins front office has on occasion been less than forthright over the years. I don’t hold that against them as most professional teams keep their information close to the vest. An injury perhaps? Maybe there is reason they don’t want to divulge on why Joe Mauer is playing so badly other than bad luck? Maybe a big trade is in the works?
I personally like the move but I don’t see it making a huge difference in the standings, I see it more as a symbolic move to the fans that says “see, we will spend money to put a winner on the field; hang with us as we get better”. So what is the real reason the Twins are willing to fork over $7.5 million dollars to Kendrys Morales for 100 games and will there gamble pay off? I guess we will just have to wait and see, time will tell.
According to ESPNBoston.com, Boston Red Sox hitting coach Greg Colbrunn who is just 44 was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain, a potentially life-threatening condition, after being taken to the Cleveland Clinic before Wednesday’s game with the Cleveland Indians. You can read the rest of the story here.
Greg Colbrunn
Greg Colbrunn, just 44, played in the majors for 13 years between 1992-2004. Colbrunn played for the Expos, Marlins, Twins, Braves, Rockies, Mariners and Diamondbacks. Colbrunn signed with the Twins as a free agent in january 1997 and appeared in 70 games for Minnesota in 1997 hitting .281 with 5 home runs and 26 RBI before the Twins traded him to the Atlanta Braves on August 14, 1997 for a PTBNL who turned out to be outfielder Marc Lewis. Lewis spent two years in the Twins minor league system but never reached the major leagues.
We at Twins Trivia hope that Greg Colbrunn gets well soon and has a quick and complete recovery.
MLB announced that Major League Baseball, the Minnesota Twins and Peanuts Worldwide, as part of a new collaboration between the organizations, unveiled 10 life-size statues of the iconic Peanuts Gang, including Charlie Brown and Snoopy, dressed in full Twins baseball uniforms at St. Paul’s Rice Park on May 28th.
These statues are set to welcome St. Paul residents and visitors alike to the city’s downtown area for the next three weeks in advance of MLB All-Star Week. On hand for the unveiling were Twins Owner and Chief Executive Officer Jim Pohlad, Team President Dave St. Peter, City of St. Paul Director of Marketing and Convention Planning Jake Spano as well as a starting lineup of St. Paul natives, including Twins first baseman and All-Star Ambassador Joe Mauer, Twins Bench Coach and All-Star Ambassador Paul Molitor and Snoopy, the World’s Most Famous Beagle and Official Peanuts All-Star Ambassador. The statue unveiling marked the start of a new multi-year marketing relationship between the league and the legendary comic strip brand that also forms a special retail program. This retail component consists of replica statuettes modeled after the life-size statues in Rice Park, as well as other related merchandise including apparel, novelties and collectibles.
The 10 life-size statues are decorated with full baseball gear to go along with their uniforms, including mitts, cleats, bats and in Schroeder’s case, catcher’s equipment. Standing between five and six feet tall and weighing between 200-300 pounds, these Twins-themed All-Star statues will reside in St. Paul’s Rice Park until June 16th at which point they will move to the Minneapolis Convention Center for MLB All-Star festivities through July 15th. This special line of commemorative statues and their replica statuettes, commissioned in conjunction with Forever Collectibles, depicts the Peanuts gang as Twins players, dressed in uniforms adjusted for each character’s style.
2014 All-Star Game Snoopy Figurine (Target Field Exclusive – June 6 game – 10,000 available)
The statuettes, which stand between five and seven inches, will be available through MLB.com and at the Majestic Twins Clubhouse Store beginning June 2nd. Photos of all 10 life-size statues and the replica variations are available at MLB.com. The Twins will also host Peanuts Day at Target Field on June 6th when the first 10,000 fans will receive a limited-edition Snoopy figure. Only fans in attendance at this Twins versus Houston Astros game will be able to complete the entire limited-edition collection. In addition to the replica statuettes, in the coming months fans can obtain a wide variety of memorabilia featuring the Peanuts Gang characters, representing all 30 MLB clubs. Items will include apparel, headwear, novelties and collectibles, among other items and will be available nationwide.
MLB All-Star Week at Target Field includes the 85th MLB All-Star Game (July 15th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day (July 14th) featuring the Home Run Derby, Taco Bell All-Star Sunday (July 13th), including the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, and T-Mobile All-Star FanFest at the Minneapolis Convention Center (July 11th-15th).
Click on the figurine to see the slideshow and place your cursor on the figurine during the slide show to view the description.
The other day SABR member Clem Comly who also follows basketball wondered who the “triple doubles” leader might be in baseball history. His search defined a “baseball triple double” as a player that had 2 or more runs, 2 or more hits, and 2 or more RBI in a single game. His used Retrosheet (1913-2014) in his calculations and determined that the all-time baseball leader in triple doubles was Babe Ruth with 247. Lou Gehrig was second with 204, Willie Mays and Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez were tied for third with 191 and Hank Aaron was fifth with 188.
I though it might be fun to run a similar search for all of baseball during the time period of 1961 through 2014 since 1961 is the year the Minnesota Twins came into existence. I cut the list off at 100 meaning that you had to have at least 100 “triple double” games to make the list. It turns out to be a Whose Who of baseball hitting. You can almost use this list to see who might deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, assuming of course you excluded things like position played, fielding and the whole steroid situation.
I am surprised to see Jacques Jones on this list. Larry Hisle only played in Minnesota for five seasons but he put up some nice numbers during his stay here and a lot of Twins fans have no idea who he is.
The Twins acquired Castillo along with outfielder Bobby Mitchell from the Dodgers in a January 1982 trade for pitcher Paul Voigt and utility man Scotti Madison. The Twins turned Castillo into a starter in 1982 and the man who had never pitched more than 99 innings in a season for the Dodgers had a career season going 13-11 with 3.66 ERA in 25 starts. Castillo also pitched 15 games in relief and when the Twins dismal 60-102 season finally ended, Castillo had pitched 218.2 innings. In 1983 Castillo was 8-12 in 25 starts with a 4.77 ERA and in 1984 he pitched sparingly for the Twins mostly in relief (just 10 games) and had a 2-1 record with a 1.78 ERA. Castillo became a free agent after the 1984 season and resigned with the Dodgers where he pitched his final big league season in 1985. Castillo, who attended Lincoln High School, finished with a career record of 38-40 with a 3.94 ERA in 250 games, making 59 starts. He pitched for LA in the 1981 National League Championship Series, the World Series that same year and the 1985 NLCS. After his big league career had ended, Castillo pitched for the Monterrey Sultanes and the Mexican League in 1986 and the Chunichi Dragons in the Japanese Central League in 1987.
