Eddy Castro (minors01)

Edgar Castro Rivera

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.

• Born January 3, 1963 in Rio Piedras Puerto Rico

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Eddy Castro hit over 200 home runs and drew over 1,000 walks in the minor leagues. He led his league in walks five times.

Castro debuted in 1980 with the Grays Harbor Loggers. He hit only .189/.352/.230 with no homers in 52 games as their starting first baseman, with the lone positive being his walk total (38). In 1981, he improved to .243/.387/.324 for the Salem Redbirds, appearing in 87 games. The next year, the Puerto Rican hit .234/.394/.309 for the independent Miami Marlins, with 64 walks in 83 games. He fielded .991 at 1B and would have led the Florida State League in fielding percentage there had he qualified.

In 1983, Castro played for both Miami (.231/.351/.376 in 71 G) and the Reno Padres (.229/.333/.400 in 42 G). He spent all of 1984 with the Salem Redbirds; still only 21 years old, he was showing progress at the plate by batting .264/.392/.447 with 18 dingers and 76 walks. He was 8th in the Carolina League in home runs and tied Sam Horn for 6th in walks. He led the league's first basemen in double plays (91) though his 17 errors were second only to Horn.

He finished the US portion of his career in 1985, with four different clubs in three organizations - the Texas Rangers' Tulsa Drillers (.193/.299/.325 in 33 G), the Baltimore Orioles' Charlotte O's (1 for 10, 5 BB) and two Carolina League teams (Baltimore's Hagerstown Suns and the Pittsburgh Pirates' Prince William Pirates (a combined .264/.478/.418 with 45 walks in 50 games).

Castro then played in the Mexican League for a decade. He debuted in 1988 with the Leon Braves, hitting .321/.474/.610 with 117 walks, 33 home runs, 105 runs and 106 RBI. He led the Liga in walks, tied Leo Hernandez for the most intentional walks (18), was 4th in runs and was third in home runs, 3 behind Hernandez and two behind Enrique Aguilar. He split the 1989 campaign between the Monterrey Industriales and Saltillo Saraperos, with a composite batting line of .302/.415/.494, 17 home runs and 75 walks. In 1990, he hit .308/.465/.561 with Saltillo and the Aguascalientes Rieleros. He drew 112 walks, scored 93 runs, cracked 25 home runs and drove in 91. Defense remained a problem as he made 20 errors, leading the Mexican League's first basemen. He also led the league in walks (10 more than anyone else), was third in OBP (behind Nick Castaneda and Willie Aikens), tied Antonio Aguilera for 4th in runs, ranked 6th in RBI and tied Hediberto Vargas for 4th in home runs (3 behind leader Alejandro Sanchez).

Eddie bounced between three Mexican League teams in 1991, playing for Saltillo, the Torreon Cotton Dealers and Cordoba Coffee Growers. He hit .317/.465/.533 with 18 home runs and 84 walks despite lacking a stable home. He did get to play for the same team for all of 1992, hitting .310/.472/.566 for the Petroleros de Minatitlán. He hit 25 home runs, drew 124 walks and drove home 94. He led the Mexican League in walks for the third time.

In 1993, Castro increased his walk total by one, to 125, again leading the league. He produced at a .323/.471/.536 clip with 88 runs, 29 doubles, 18 home runs and 92 RBI. In 1994, he batted .298/.472/.476 for the Monclova Steelers with 16 home runs, 84 runs and 126 walks (his second straight year increasing his walk total by one). He had 17 errors, leading the league's first basemen. He led with 97 strikeouts and he also led in OBP even though he did not make the top 10 in average, beating fellow Puerto Rican and runner-up Hector Villanueva by 14 points. Villanueva was also second to Castro in walks, a distant 24 short. His 1992-1994 stretch gave him the top three walk totals in the Mexican League for the 1990s - only 1983 walking rival Sam Horn also topped 120 (also at 124, in 1996). After that, the next highest total was Villanueva's 117 in 1998. Castro made the top 10 list for most walks in a Mexican League season, but did not crack the top 5 - 152 (Al Greene, 1986), 133 (Al Greene, 1984), 132 (Joe Pactwa, 1977), 131 (William Parlier, 1970) and 129 (Curtis Moore, 129).

Castro's production fell after that. At age 32, he slumped to .246/.399/.330 with 47 walks but only 3 home runs in 59 games for Saltillo and Minatitlan. In 1996, he hit .285/.444/.398 with 90 walks and 6 home runs for Minatitlan. He wound up his playing career with the Petroleros in 1997, batting .276/.416/.341 with 80 walks and 3 home runs in 110 games. He also managed the team part of the year and would manage in Mexico afterwards.

Overall, he had hit .302/.455/.497 in 1,136 Mexican League games, with 980 walks, 164 home runs, 683 runs and 709 RBI. Through 2000, he was 10th in Mexican League history in walks, between Ricardo Garza and another Castro, Angel Castro, despite only playing ten seasons in that country. He had drawn more walks than any other foreigner in Mexican annals; the next highest-foreigner was Agustín Bejerano (20th with 854).

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Playoffs	Notes
1996	Petroleros de Minatitlán	Mexican League		15th		replaced Carolos Paz
2012	Petroleros de Minatitlán	Mexican League	40-73	16th
2014	Rojos del Águila de Veracruz	Mexican League	52-60	12th

Sources

• 1981-1985, 1991, 1993 and 1995 Baseball Guides
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros

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