Turnin 2 SS 2b
06-24-2002, 08:07 AM
MIAMI -- Pecking away at baseball history started gnawing on Luis Castillo a few days ago.
At night, the Marlins second baseman was having difficulty sleeping. And before his final at-bat Saturday, Castillo was so worked up that third base coach Ozzie Guillen noticed he was having trouble breathing.
"Every at-bat for him was pressure," Guillen said. "When the streak was 20 and 30, he was having fun. Now, he couldn't have fun."
Castillo's joyride through the record book came to a bittersweet conclusion Saturday against the Tigers at Pro Player Stadium. On a night when his teammates miraculously rallied to victory with four runs in the ninth, the second baseman watched from the on-deck circle his remarkable hitting streak skid to a halt at 35 games.
PLAYER YR TEAM GM
Joe DiMaggio 1941 NYY 56
Willie Keeler 1897 BAL (NL) 44
Pete Rose 1978 CIN 44
Bill Dahlen 1894 CHC 42
George Sisler 1922 STL (AL) 41
Ty Cobb 1911 DET 40
Paul Molitor 1987 MIL 39
Tommy Holmes 1945 BOS 37
Billy Hamilton 1894 PHI 36
Luis Castillo* 2002 FLA 35
Fred Clarke 1895 LOU (NL) 35
Ty Cobb 1917 DET 35
George Sisler 1925 STL (AL) 34
George McQuinn 1938 STL (AL) 34
Dom DiMaggio 1949 BOS 34
Benito Santiago* 1987 SD 34
George Davis 1893 NYG (NL) 33
Hal Chase 1907 NYY 33
Rogers Hornsby 1922 STL 33
Heinie Manush 1933 WAS 33
Ed Delahanty 1899 PHI 31
Nap Lajoie 1906 CLE 31
Sam Rice 1924 WAS 31
Willie Davis 1969 LAD 31
Rico Carty 1970 ATL 31
Ken Landreaux 1980 MIN 31
Vladimir Guerrero* 1999 MON 31
* Active players
In dazed silence, Castillo was embraced by jubilant teammates seconds after Tim Raines' sacrifice fly scored Andy Fox for a 5-4 Marlins victory.
"It is a little bittersweet," Marlins manager Jeff Torborg said. "Certainly, you'll never not take winning a ballgame. But we're so proud of Luis. He's done such a great job, but we've got to win the game."
Thus, after seven weeks and three days, Castillo had his amazing individual run at history halted for the good of the team. Appropriately, the streak ended in the context of baseball.
So Castillo's chase for immortality stops 21 games shy of Joe DiMaggio's astonishing record of 56 games set in 1941.
Along the way, however, the 26-year-old Dominican native certainly made a name for himself. He went from being an obscure quality infielder to the talk of the baseball world. Each night he made national news.
Each hit elevated him further up the charts, sharing records with some of the sport's all-time greats.
Now that it's over, Castillo shares the 10th longest Major League streak with the likes of Ty Cobb, Fred Clarke and George Sisler (who strung 35 games over two seasons, 1924-25).
"It was a great run," Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell said. "Everything nowadays is power, power, power. It's good to see someone getting so much recognition for hitting singles and the streak. It couldn't happen to a better guy."
Castillo's streak raised so much awareness to history, and brought the spotlight back on DiMaggio's mark, which halted against the Indians after two sensational plays at third base by Ken Keltner.
The footnote to Castillo's streak will be how it ended, with the winning run scoring on a sacrifice fly.
Although the Marlins won, there wasn't a lot of joy in the eyes of Tim Raines, who lifted a 2-2 pitch by Juan Acevedo deep enough behind a drawn-in outfield for Andy Fox to score the decisive run easily from third.
As soon as Tigers center fielder Wendell Magee retreated a few steps, Fox was given the green light to score from third.
"I feel good we won the game," Raines said. "But I feel bad for Louie. We've got to win the game."
Guillen, in many ways Castillo's mentor with the Marlins, knew he couldn't hold Fox at third with two outs just to give the second baseman one more shot at extending the streak.
"I was on the spot," Guillen said.
But the third base coach added, had Fox been at second and not advanced on a wild pitch, he might have held him at third on a single.
There are a lot of "what if?" scenarios. But Torborg knew his bench was whittled to one position player, catcher Mike Redmond, who would have had to play in extra innings because Charles Johnson was removed for a pinch-runner.
"Tim Raines asked me before he went up there if he wanted me to bunt, and I said 'shoot, no, win the game here. We can't mess around. We're going to be out of players,' " Torborg said. "He followed instructions.
"You've got to win the game. The team comes first. You can't say enough about what Luis has accomplished and what he's meant to the team. But you've got to win the game."
The accomplishments:
Longest streak ever by a second baseman
Longest streak in the league in 15 years
Longest streak ever by a player born outside of the United States
Second-longest streak by a switch hitter
Batting average during the streak -- .403 (62-for-154, 2 HRs, 4 2B, 14 RBIs)
Seventeen multi-hit games
Immediately after the game and streak ended, Torborg consoled Castillo with a warm embrace.
What was said?
"That's between him and me," Torborg said.
Castillo, who speaks little English, wished he had one more shot instead of finishing 0-for-4.
"I was very happy for the guys," he said. "Yeah, I wanted to get one more chance. When we tied it 4-4, I know Tim Raines has to do his job."
Castillo's best chance came in the eighth against reliever Jose Paniagua when he bounced to shortstop Ramon Santiago. It was a relatively routine play, but the second baseman charged hard and was out by half-a-step.
"I put everything in to it," he said. "I go hard. ... I had a lot of pressure."
Castillo's first three at-bats were from the right side of the plate against lefty Mark Redman.
Redman got Castillo to fly out to left in the first and struck him out with a 79 mph changeup in the third. In the fifth, he tapped into a fielder's choice out to end the inning.
"I thought going into the game he was going to be more aggressive, and I was trying to get him to chase my pitch," Redman said. "Basically the whole game I was pitching him backwards, soft early and hard late. It seemed to work."
The way Castillo's streak ended was reminiscent of how Paul Molitor's 39-game streak ended for the Brewers in 1987. With Molitor on deck in extra innings, pinch-hitter Rick Manning singled home the winning run off Cleveland's Doug Jones.
"I don't think any win is bittersweet," said Fox, who reached on a two-base error by Randall Simon that brought in the tying run. "But you'd like to see Luis continue his streak to see if he could make a run at it. Winning supercedes that thing. I'm sure he's disappointed. But I'm sure he's glad we won."
At night, the Marlins second baseman was having difficulty sleeping. And before his final at-bat Saturday, Castillo was so worked up that third base coach Ozzie Guillen noticed he was having trouble breathing.
"Every at-bat for him was pressure," Guillen said. "When the streak was 20 and 30, he was having fun. Now, he couldn't have fun."
Castillo's joyride through the record book came to a bittersweet conclusion Saturday against the Tigers at Pro Player Stadium. On a night when his teammates miraculously rallied to victory with four runs in the ninth, the second baseman watched from the on-deck circle his remarkable hitting streak skid to a halt at 35 games.
PLAYER YR TEAM GM
Joe DiMaggio 1941 NYY 56
Willie Keeler 1897 BAL (NL) 44
Pete Rose 1978 CIN 44
Bill Dahlen 1894 CHC 42
George Sisler 1922 STL (AL) 41
Ty Cobb 1911 DET 40
Paul Molitor 1987 MIL 39
Tommy Holmes 1945 BOS 37
Billy Hamilton 1894 PHI 36
Luis Castillo* 2002 FLA 35
Fred Clarke 1895 LOU (NL) 35
Ty Cobb 1917 DET 35
George Sisler 1925 STL (AL) 34
George McQuinn 1938 STL (AL) 34
Dom DiMaggio 1949 BOS 34
Benito Santiago* 1987 SD 34
George Davis 1893 NYG (NL) 33
Hal Chase 1907 NYY 33
Rogers Hornsby 1922 STL 33
Heinie Manush 1933 WAS 33
Ed Delahanty 1899 PHI 31
Nap Lajoie 1906 CLE 31
Sam Rice 1924 WAS 31
Willie Davis 1969 LAD 31
Rico Carty 1970 ATL 31
Ken Landreaux 1980 MIN 31
Vladimir Guerrero* 1999 MON 31
* Active players
In dazed silence, Castillo was embraced by jubilant teammates seconds after Tim Raines' sacrifice fly scored Andy Fox for a 5-4 Marlins victory.
"It is a little bittersweet," Marlins manager Jeff Torborg said. "Certainly, you'll never not take winning a ballgame. But we're so proud of Luis. He's done such a great job, but we've got to win the game."
Thus, after seven weeks and three days, Castillo had his amazing individual run at history halted for the good of the team. Appropriately, the streak ended in the context of baseball.
So Castillo's chase for immortality stops 21 games shy of Joe DiMaggio's astonishing record of 56 games set in 1941.
Along the way, however, the 26-year-old Dominican native certainly made a name for himself. He went from being an obscure quality infielder to the talk of the baseball world. Each night he made national news.
Each hit elevated him further up the charts, sharing records with some of the sport's all-time greats.
Now that it's over, Castillo shares the 10th longest Major League streak with the likes of Ty Cobb, Fred Clarke and George Sisler (who strung 35 games over two seasons, 1924-25).
"It was a great run," Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell said. "Everything nowadays is power, power, power. It's good to see someone getting so much recognition for hitting singles and the streak. It couldn't happen to a better guy."
Castillo's streak raised so much awareness to history, and brought the spotlight back on DiMaggio's mark, which halted against the Indians after two sensational plays at third base by Ken Keltner.
The footnote to Castillo's streak will be how it ended, with the winning run scoring on a sacrifice fly.
Although the Marlins won, there wasn't a lot of joy in the eyes of Tim Raines, who lifted a 2-2 pitch by Juan Acevedo deep enough behind a drawn-in outfield for Andy Fox to score the decisive run easily from third.
As soon as Tigers center fielder Wendell Magee retreated a few steps, Fox was given the green light to score from third.
"I feel good we won the game," Raines said. "But I feel bad for Louie. We've got to win the game."
Guillen, in many ways Castillo's mentor with the Marlins, knew he couldn't hold Fox at third with two outs just to give the second baseman one more shot at extending the streak.
"I was on the spot," Guillen said.
But the third base coach added, had Fox been at second and not advanced on a wild pitch, he might have held him at third on a single.
There are a lot of "what if?" scenarios. But Torborg knew his bench was whittled to one position player, catcher Mike Redmond, who would have had to play in extra innings because Charles Johnson was removed for a pinch-runner.
"Tim Raines asked me before he went up there if he wanted me to bunt, and I said 'shoot, no, win the game here. We can't mess around. We're going to be out of players,' " Torborg said. "He followed instructions.
"You've got to win the game. The team comes first. You can't say enough about what Luis has accomplished and what he's meant to the team. But you've got to win the game."
The accomplishments:
Longest streak ever by a second baseman
Longest streak in the league in 15 years
Longest streak ever by a player born outside of the United States
Second-longest streak by a switch hitter
Batting average during the streak -- .403 (62-for-154, 2 HRs, 4 2B, 14 RBIs)
Seventeen multi-hit games
Immediately after the game and streak ended, Torborg consoled Castillo with a warm embrace.
What was said?
"That's between him and me," Torborg said.
Castillo, who speaks little English, wished he had one more shot instead of finishing 0-for-4.
"I was very happy for the guys," he said. "Yeah, I wanted to get one more chance. When we tied it 4-4, I know Tim Raines has to do his job."
Castillo's best chance came in the eighth against reliever Jose Paniagua when he bounced to shortstop Ramon Santiago. It was a relatively routine play, but the second baseman charged hard and was out by half-a-step.
"I put everything in to it," he said. "I go hard. ... I had a lot of pressure."
Castillo's first three at-bats were from the right side of the plate against lefty Mark Redman.
Redman got Castillo to fly out to left in the first and struck him out with a 79 mph changeup in the third. In the fifth, he tapped into a fielder's choice out to end the inning.
"I thought going into the game he was going to be more aggressive, and I was trying to get him to chase my pitch," Redman said. "Basically the whole game I was pitching him backwards, soft early and hard late. It seemed to work."
The way Castillo's streak ended was reminiscent of how Paul Molitor's 39-game streak ended for the Brewers in 1987. With Molitor on deck in extra innings, pinch-hitter Rick Manning singled home the winning run off Cleveland's Doug Jones.
"I don't think any win is bittersweet," said Fox, who reached on a two-base error by Randall Simon that brought in the tying run. "But you'd like to see Luis continue his streak to see if he could make a run at it. Winning supercedes that thing. I'm sure he's disappointed. But I'm sure he's glad we won."