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Bakersfield resident Castillo realizes his dream of pitching in big leagues
| Wednesday, Aug 6 2008 10:17 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Aug 7 2008 7:42 AM
ANAHEIM — One would be challenged to find anyone relishing the last month more than Alberto Castillo.
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Age: 33
Born: Havana City, Cuba
Resides: Bakersfield
Occupation: Left-handed pitcher, Baltimore Orioles
Family: wife Nanci, son Diego, parents Alberto Castillo and Herna Bettencourt, sister Yanedit Castillo.
Stats: 0-0 record, 1.54 ERA, 10 games, 112⁄3 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts.
Goal after playing career: Become a baseball coach
Quotable: "Every time I go out there I want to give 110 percent because I know how hard is was for me to get here."
Photos:
Orioles reliever Alberto Castillo makes a pitch after he was put into the game during the sixth inning. Alberto has been living in Bakersfield with his wife Nanci since 2001.
Alberto Castillo laughs while talking with a reporter about living in Bakersfield.
A Bakersfield resident since 2001 when he played for the Blaze, Castillo, 33, is living his lifetime dream as a major league player with the the Baltimore Orioles.
The left-hander was called up by Baltimore on July 8 and made his major league debut that night in Toronto.
"I'll never forget that day," Castillo said before Wednesday afternoon's 9-4 loss to the Angels. "I couldn't believe I was there. It was amazing. Being in the major leagues after so many years."
The odds of a baseball player making the big leagues are steep enough, but Castillo had to overcome some incredible extra hurdles along the way, including a defection from Cuba at age 18, and a rare transformation after turning pro, converting from a first baseman to a pitcher.
But he made it, and more than 40,000 spectators were at Angel Stadium to watch Wednesday as Castillo had his longest stint yet in the majors, tossing 21⁄3 innings and retiring all seven batters he faced.
Castillo had some help from center fielder Jay Payton, who made two spectacular leaping catches at the wall. Payton robbed Howie Kendrick of a home run and prevented at least a double by Erick Aybar.
"He did help me a lot," Castillo said with a smile in the clubhouse after the game. "That was two runs right there. We know if he can get to it, he'll catch it."
Castillo effectively mixed his pitches, combining a fastball that topped 89 mph with a change-up, curve and slider. Of his 25 pitches, 17 were strikes.
"I was throwing everything," he said. "Just trying to hit my spots."
Castillo's career has been characterized by persistence.
He's been released by several organizations and spent seven seasons playing in independent leagues.
He's endured numerous health problems to his left shoulder and elbow. And he had the added wrinkle of his change of positions.
Perhaps the biggest life-changing experience for Castillo occurred when at 18, when he defected from Cuba while playing on a junior national team in Canada.
"That was hard, because you leave your family behind," Castillo said. "I was only 18 years old. I was young. But I don't regret it. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it. ... I wanted to have a future playing in the big leagues, and I wanted to help my family any way I could."
Three years ago, his parents were able to leave Cuba and settled in Tampa. He said his next goal is getting his older sister Yanedit Castillo and her husband to the United States.
Castillo's said his decision to defect intensified when the Cuban team played an exhibition game in Connecticut in 1993.
"I met a family there," he said. "The family went up to Canada to watch a game there. I talked to their daughter — her name was Anita. I said I wanted to defect. I didn't want to go back.
"At first she was scared. She talked to her dad and he said to help me any way they could."
At 3 a.m. following a game in Windsor, Ontario, Castillo slipped out of his hotel room and met Anita in the hotel lobby.
"I jumped in the car and left," he said. "They took me a couple of towns over, far enough away. They (Cuban officials) were looking for me, but after awhile, they figured I wasn't coming back."
He settled in Miami, spent a year at Miami Dade Wolfson Community College, then began his pro career after being selected by San Francisco in the third round of the 1994 amateur player draft.
Castillo had seven minor league stops over the next several seasons and left affiliated pro baseball after his 2001 season in Bakersfield.
Five seasons in the independent Atlantic League and a lost season because of ligament replacement surgery on his left elbow set the stage for this season.
"The ligament replacement made me more consistent in my career," Castillo said. "Best thing that happened to me."
He missed the entire 2005 season and was ineffective in 2006, he said, before regaining command and effectiveness in 2007. Then the Orioles noticed while Castillo was pitching winter ball in Mexico. They signed him in December to a minor league contract.
"He's gone through adversity," Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz said. "If anybody has earned the opportunity to pitch in the big leagues, it's him. Pitching in the other leagues — the nonsanctioned independent leagues — that's a tough road. To keep plugging away like he has and here he is, in the big leagues and he's done well."
Castillo said he nearly left the game after he failed to make the St. Louis Cardinals out of spring training in 2003. He was the final player cut.
But his wife, Nanci, a kindergarten teacher at Lakeside School, encouraged him to continue his career.
"I said, 'At least finish the year out,'" she said. "I was never going to be the one to tell him to end his dream."
She added: "It's been so special, watching him, seeing how hard he's worked. He always believed in himself, even when nobody else did and said he should quit."
The Orioles' thought was to have Castillo serve as a situational lefty — face a tough left-handed batter in the middle of a game. He got his chance when Adam Loewen, who had that role, suffered a season-ending stress fracture to his left elbow.
Ironically, all seven batters Castillo faced Wednesday hit right-handed.
"He's throwing strikes, and at this level you need to throw strikes," Kranitz said. "He shows a variety of different arm angles. ... He'll go anywhere from three-quarters to sidearm.
"The nice thing about him: He has the ability to have a swing-and-a-miss pitch. His slider seems to be a pretty good pitch for him. We've seen some right-handers take some pretty awkward swings at him. And also his sinking fastball to left-handers has been very effective so far."
Castillo had another benefit from his 2001 season in Bakersfield. He met his future wife. They were married in 2004. They have a 19-month-old son, Diego.
"My class went to a clinic, and he was one of the players," Nanci Castillo said. "A month later I went to a game with a friend. We were in the parking lot when he came out. He remembered me and we started talking. We've been together ever since."
During the last two off-seasons, when he hasn't pitched in winter leagues, Castillo has worked out with the Stockdale High baseball team.
"He asked if he could run, play catch and just work out with the team, not in a coaching capacity, but to just get in shape," said Greg Showers, Stockdale's assistant baseball coach. "We told him to do what you want. The field's your's as long as you're here.
"He's just a quiet, unassuming guy. What I remember about him was he'd come up to (head coach) Dan Lemon and I and thank us for letting him be there."