Ramón Abraham Castro (born March 1, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Career

Early career

On June 2,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Castro was selected by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

in the first round (17th overall pick) of the

draft, becoming the first player to be drafted out of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in the first round. He remained the highest-selected player drafted directly from a Puerto Rico high school until 2012, when Carlos Correa became the first overall pick.

Florida Marlins

He was traded to the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

for relief pitcher Jay Powell. Castro made his major league debut on August 27,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

in a game against the

. He spent 1999 and 2000 competing with

Mike Redmond Michael Patrick Redmond (born May 5, 1971) is an American former professional baseball catcher, coach, and manager, who was most recently the bench coach for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for 13 seasons in Majo ...

for playing time and, when Charles Johnson arrived in Florida, Castro spent most of the 2001 season in the minor leagues. In 2002, he was back in the majors but as a third option and, in 2003, he played behind

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Ran ...

as the Marlins won the

2003 World Series The 2003 World Series (also known as the Centennial World Series) was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2003 Major League Baseball season, 2003 season. The 99th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-s ...

. However, Castro did not appear in the series. In 2004 Rodríguez was gone, giving Castro his first opportunity as a starter but a .135 batting average and an early-June season-ending injury finished his time in Florida.

Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player and television personality. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers (–), Florida Marlins (2004–, ), New York Met ...

finished out the Marlins' catching duties for 2004. The Marlins released Castro in October 2004. Castro is known as a good defensive catcher, but, despite showing occasional

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

power has never displayed sufficient hitting skills to win a job as a starter, along with struggling with injuries throughout his career. While never hitting for a superior average, however, his hits are often well-timed.

New York Mets

In December 2004, Castro signed with the New York Mets. In 2005, he was backup catcher to

Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007, and is a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He intended ...

, with 41 RBIs in 209 at-bats, a career-best .244 batting average, and playing solid defense. When Piazza became a free agent after the season, it looked like Castro might again get a chance to be a starter, but the Mets traded for

who previously had replaced Castro in Florida. Injuries further reduced his role in 2006, limiting him to 126 at-bats. When Lo Duca left after the 2007 season, many fans called for Castro to start, but the job instead went to newcomer Brian Schneider. It was most likely due to his injury-riddled career, which became evident once more when he strained his hamstring late in spring training that year, missing the beginning of the season.

Chicago White Sox

On May 29,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Ramon was traded to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Lance Broadway after Omir Santos won the backup job with the return of Brian Schneider from the DL. On July 23, 2009, Castro became the 17th backstop in Major League Baseball history to catch a perfect game, receiving Mark Buehrle's second

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

. It was his first time catching for Buehrle, who stated afterwards that he did not shake off Castro at any time during the game. On January 12, 2010, Castro re-signed with the

on a 1-year $800,000 contract with a club option for 2011. He played in 37 games in 2010 and 23 games in 2011.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 3, 2013, After not playing in 2012, Castro signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He was released on March 18, 2013.

Long Island Ducks

On April 6, 2013, Castro signed with the Long Island Ducks of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. He became a free agent following the season. In 81 games he hit .260/.295/.378 with 8 home runs and 31 RBIs.

Telemarket Rimini

On December 27, 2013, Castro signed a contract to play with Telemarket Rimini of Italian Baseball League for the 2014 season.

Personal life

Ramon Castro was raised in Sabana Puerto Rico. Since he was little he loved playing baseball. In high school he was the first Puerto Rican to be drafted by the Houston Astros. Recently he married Brenda Castro. They have two daughters: Mairym (born December 21, 1995), and Nathalie (born July 15, 1999), Miosoty (born January 23, 2001) and he has another daughter by a different mother, Isabella (born December 22, 2001) They are currently living in Miramar, Florida.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Ramon 1976 births Living people American people convicted of indecent assault Auburn Astros players Calgary Cannons players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Italy Florida Marlins players Gulf Coast Astros players Gulf Coast Mets players Jackson Generals (Texas League) players Kissimmee Cobras players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico New York Mets players Sportspeople from Vega Baja, Puerto Rico Portland Sea Dogs players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Quad Cities River Bandits players St. Lucie Mets players Rimini Baseball Club players