Bill Castro

William Radhames Castro Checo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.
• High School Liceo Pedro Maria Espaillat
• Debut August 20, 1974
• Final Game June 25, 1983
• Born March 29, 1952 in Santiago, Santiago, D.R.

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Biographical Information

Bill Castro pitched ten years in the majors, primarily in relief. He had some excellent seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, crafting a 1.81 ERA and 8 saves with only 17 strikeouts in 42 games (49 2/3 innings) in 1978. He piggybacked off his '78 success with a similarly sainted 1979, putting together a 3-1 record, 6 saves and a 2.03 ERA while striking out only 10 hitters . Most of his major league career was spent with the Milwaukee Brewers, missing out on Harvey's Wallbangers ride to the World Series in 1982, having moved along to first the New York Yankees and then the Kansas City Royals. He only struck out 203 men in 546 1/3 career innings, but finished with a very respectable 31-26, 3.33 career mark, saving 45 games.

After his retirement as a player, Castro told SABR researchers that he was actually one year and a half older than his listed birthday of December 13, 1953. Such fibbing on birth dates was quite common at the time; the fake age, usually to make the player appear younger than he was, is known as the player's baseball age.

Since his playing career ended, Bill has held various positions in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He was a scout from 1985-1987 and the minor league pitching coordinator in 1988-1991. In 1992, he was named bullpen coach, staying on that particular job through 2008. He spent part of 2002 as the team's pitching coach (replacing Dave Stewart who resigned) and began the 2009 season in that same role. He was fired to make way for Chris Bosio on August 12th, with the team's hurlers badly underperforming. Castro returned to the Brewers in 2010-2011 as a Latin American pitching advisor. In June 2011, Castro replaced Nashville Sounds pitching coach Rich Gale after Gale resigned. This interim assignment only lasted until June 30th when Chris Bosio was appointed to finish out the season.

In 2012, the Baltimore Orioles hired him to be their new bullpen coach. Castro stayed in that role until August 16, 2013 when he became the interim pitching coach after pitching coach Rick Adair took a leave of absence. The Orioles let Castro go following the conclusion of the 2013 season.

In addition to his U.S. coaching, Castro was the pitching coach for the Dominican Republic national team in the 2006, 2013, and 2017 World Baseball Classics.

Related Sites

• Bill Castro at the SABR Bio Project