Luis Castillo (second baseman)
Luis Antonio Castillo (born September 12, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, and Minnesota Twins from 1996 through 2010.
Luis Castillo
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Castillo is a three-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997 and 2003 (although he did not play in the 1997 series). He is also the only player who played for the Marlins in both of their World Series winning seasons who did not get traded in between the two seasons (Jeff Conine was on both teams but was traded after 1997 and returned during the 2003 season). The all-time leader in both games played (1,128) and base hits (1,273) for the Marlins, he is one of only two players to play 1,000 games for the franchise (the other also being Conine).
Professional career[edit]
Early career[edit]
On August 19, 1992, Castillo was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Florida Marlins. 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 short-season record in stolen bases, with 31.[1]
In 1995, he was called up to the Kane County Cougars in 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.[1]
Castillo spent most of the 1996 season in the Eastern League, but was called up to the Marlins mid-season and made his major league debut on August 8. His first major league hit came in a game against the New York Mets, where he knocked in the game-winning run in the 10th inning. He was named to the Eastern League All-Star team and post-season All-Star team.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Castillo graduated from the class of 1991 at Colegio San Benito Abad in the Dominican Republic. He is married and has two children—Luis Jr., born on October 12, 2001,[1] and Adonai, born on July 30, 2009.[13]
In August 2019, Castillo was cited on charges related to a drug trafficking and money laundering operation, while Octavio Dotel was arrested on related charges.[14][15][16] In late August 2019, Castillo was cleared of money laundering charges, and it was determined that there was no evidence to link Castillo to any money laundering activity.[17]