Alberto Castillo: Former Mets Backup Catcher (1995-1998)

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Alberto Terrero Castillo was Born on February 10, 1970, in the Dominican Republic. The tall six-foot catcher was signed out of high school by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in 1987.

Catillo would spend eleven years in the Mets minor leagues, making brief appearances in the big leagues with New York four different seasons. 

MLB Debut: Castillo debuted in the big leagues on May 28th, 1995, catching Dave Mlicki at Shea Stadium going 0-3 against the Giants. He hit just .103 in 13 games with the Mets that season but showed good abilities behind the plate, even throwing out 4 of 5 base stealers. He saw action in six MLB games the next year & 35 games in 1997.

1998: Castillo was with the club out of Spring Training & had his shining Mets moment on
Opening Day.

Walk Off Hit: In an exciting pitcher's duel between the Mets & Phillies at Shea Stadium, Bobby Jones blanked the Phillies for six innings. Greg McMichael & Dennis Cook held them down for the next three innings. In extra's John Franco, Mel Rojas & Turk Wendell shit out Philadelphia in the bottom of the 14th inning.  

On the other side Curt Schilling blanked the Mets on just two hits for eight innings. The Phillies bullpen got them to the 14th inning. Ricky Bottalico would give up singles to Matt Franco & Bernard Gilkey as well as walking Brian McRae. With the bases loaded Castillo came in to pinch hit & singled home the walk off winning run to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0. 

On May 16th, he hit his first career HR, coming off Kurt Rueter in a 4-1 win at San Francisco. Less than a month later on June 5th, he hit another off Pedro Martinez in a 9-2 win at Boston. In that game he doubled off Pedro as well.  

By the end of the month, after batting just .205 at the big-league level he was sent back down to AAA Norfolk 

After the 1998 season signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies then soon got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals where he played as a backup to Eli Marerro in 1999. Castillo had career highs that season in games (93) hits (67) HRs (4) RBIs (31) & batting average (.263). He led all NL catchers throwing out 51% of would-be base stealers & posted a .991 fielding %.

 By 2000 he became a journey man backup & third string catcher over the next five years playing with the Toronto Blue Jays (2000-2001) A.L. New York team (2002) San Francisco Giants (2003) Kansas City Royals (2004-2005) Oakland A's (2005) & Baltimore Orioles (2007). 

Career Stats: In his 12-season career he threw out 41% of would-be base stealers posting a .991
fielding %. In 418 games he batted .220 with 12 HRs 39 doubles 2 triples 101 RBIs & a .293 on base %.

Independant League & WBC: Castillo was a catcher for the first Dominican team in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic. In 2008 he played for the Newark Bears of the Independent League & eventually got traded to the Long Island Ducks.

Retirement: Castillo serves as a Mets catching instructor in the Dominican Summer League.

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