Irvin Castille (May 17, 1926 – August 4, 2015Irvin M. Castille (May 17, 1926 – Aug 4, 2015)
''Legacy.com.'' Retrieved on February 13, 2019) was a shortstop and third baseman who played from 1951 through 1953 in the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...

. Born in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

,Irvin Castille in the 1940 Census
''Ancestry website.'' Retrieved on February 13, 2019 he batted and threw right handed. Castille joined the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...

in the dying years of the Negro leagues. He also was selected to the

East–West All-Star Game The East–West All-Star Game was an annual all-star game for Negro league baseball players. The game was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1933 he decided to emulate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, usi ...

in 1953. In between, he played with the Brandon Greys club of the independent

Mandak League The Manitoba-Dakota League was an independent baseball league based in Manitoba and North Dakota that was founded in 1950. It became the home for many African-American and Latino players. The league lasted through the 1957 season. It was known inf ...

in its 1952 season. On June 8, 2008, Major League Baseball staged a special draft of the surviving Negro league players, doing a tribute for the surviving Negro leaguers who were kept out of the Big Leagues because of their race. MLB clubs each selected a former NLB player, as Castille was drafted by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. A week later, the San Diego Padres honored him during a homestand highlighted by a Salute to the Negro leagues, fireworks and U.S. Army Appreciation Day at

Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...

.Padres host Rangers and Mariners for fifth homestand
''MLB.com.'' Retrieved on February 13, 2019. Late in the month, he signed autographs and shared stories about his playing days in the Times of Greatness Mobile event held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.2008 Special Negro Leagues Draft
''MLB.com.'' Retrieved on February 13, 2019. Castille was a long resident of Whittier, California, where he died in 2015 at the age of 83.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castille, Irvin 1926 births 2015 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball shortstops Baseball third basemen Birmingham Black Barons players Brandon Greys players People from Whittier, California Sportspeople from Lafayette, Louisiana 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people