Luis Castillo

[William Malone]

Luis Antonio Castillo was born in the Dominican Republic on September 12, 1975.

He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Florida Marlins in 1992, where he eventually blossomed into a star. Castillo was a three time All-Star with the Marlins. He won the Gold Glove at second base three times, and led the National League in stolen bases twice. His 35-game hit streak in 2002 is the second longest by any player this century, trailing only a 38-game Jimmy Rollins streak that bridged the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Castillo is currently the Marlins all-time leader in games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, triples, walks and stolen bases.

The Minnesota Twins acquired Castillo in a trade following the 2005 season, sending pitching prospects Scott Tyler and Travis Bowyer to the Marlins. Tyler never played a game in the Majors, and Bowyer's only career big league experience came with the Twins as a September call-up in 2005.

During his first season with the Twins, Castillo hit .296 with 25 stolen bases. The club's 8-9-1-2 batting order combination of Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett, Castillo and Nick Punto was famously referred to as "piranhas" by Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. The foursome collectively hit .299 (477-for-1,549) with just six home runs between them. They all helped set the table for 2006 AL batting champion Joe Mauer and 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau.

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All those little piranhas; blooper here, blooper here, beat out a ground ball, hit a home run, they're up by four. They get up by four with that bullpen? See you at the national anthem tomorrow. When I sit down and look at the lineup, give me the New York Yankees. Give me those guys because they've got holes. You can pitch around them, you can pitch to them. Those little guys? Castillo and all of them? People worry about the catcher. What's his name? Mauer? Fine, yeah, good hitter. But worry about the little [guys]. They're on base all the time." - former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on the 2006 Minnesota Twins

Castillo returned to the Twins in 2007, where he hit .305 over 85 games before getting traded to the New York Mets at the deadline. Minnesota received catching prospect Drew Butera and outfield prospect Dustin Martin in return. Butera had a 12-year big league career as a light hitting backup catcher, including four seasons with the Twins. He won a World Series with the Royals in 2015. Martin never reached the Majors.

With the Mets, Castillo continued to hit for average and steal bases. However, he is most known for his key role in one of the most infamous moments in Subway Series history. The Yankees were down to their final out on June 12, 2009. There were two runners on base with Alex Rodriguez at-bat. He hit an incredibly routine pop-up that Castillo, a three time Gold Glove winner, simply dropped. Both runners came around to score, walking off the Mets.

He was cited by Dominican authorities on drug trafficking and money laundering chargers in 2019, but was cleared of those charges a week later. Castillo was elected to the Marlins Hall of Fame as an inaugural member in 2025. He is joined in the class by Jeff Conine, Jim Leyland and Jack McKeon.

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