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Monday, July 29, 2013

Family confirms former MLB pitcher, El Paso native Frank Castillo drowned in Ariz. lake

Frank Castillo, a former standout pitcher for Eastwood High School who played in the major leagues for 13 years, has died.

He was 44.

Castillo drowned in Bartlett Lake in Arizona near his home Sunday afternoon.

Authorities say divers are going back into the water today to look for his body and say Castillo was on a pontoon boat with a friend when he decided to go swimming.

Castillo’s friend reportedly called for help when Castillo did not come back up out of the water.

...Castillo was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played for them for seven years. He also played for Colorado, Detroit, Toronto, Boston, and Florida.

He had a career 4.56 ERA and a record of 82 wins and 104 losses.

Repoz Posted: July 29, 2013 at 03:22 PM | 23 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: obit

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1. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: July 29, 2013 at 03:32 PM (#4507102)

Cubs pitchers of the late 1980's and early 1990's either pitched forever or died young.

2. simpleton & childlike gef the talking mongoose Posted: July 29, 2013 at 03:35 PM (#4507107)

Good lord. At 44, he could conceivably still be ...

... well, maybe not. But still.

RIP.

3. Gamingboy Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:08 PM (#4507150)

He was 44.

Ugh.

4. Der-K: downgraded to lurker Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:15 PM (#4507158)

Always liked that guy.

5. simpleton & childlike gef the talking mongoose Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:36 PM (#4507176)

Never been a Cubs fan, but I had him on my fantasy team when he came within an out of a no-hitter back on 9/25/95. I was in a bit of a dogfight for first in my league, & that obviously helped my cause.

6. Hot Wheeling American Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:45 PM (#4507189)

congrats, gef

7. Spahn Insane, stimulus-funded BurlyMan™ Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:47 PM (#4507194)

Castillo was an underrated pitcher for a while. I always thought he could've been really good with better luck.

RIP.

8. JJ1986 Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:51 PM (#4507202)

Castillo was one of the starters on my team when my brother and I did our own version of the 1998 expansion to play in FPS Baseball Pro. I'll always remember him fondly.

9. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:52 PM (#4507203)

Probably the guy I most associate with the terrible early to mid 90s Cubs. Him and Steve Traschel. RIP.

10. Covfefe Posted: July 29, 2013 at 04:54 PM (#4507205)

Jeremi Gonzalez was another early death (cancer, I believe?) -- I have a vague recollection that there's another whose name escapes me.

11. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: July 29, 2013 at 05:00 PM (#4507212)

Gonzalez was struck by lightning.

Kevin Foster died of cancer.

12. jayjay Posted: July 29, 2013 at 05:00 PM (#4507213)

Jeremi Gonzalez passed away after being struck by lightning.

13. Spahn Insane, stimulus-funded BurlyMan™ Posted: July 29, 2013 at 05:07 PM (#4507217)

Kevin Foster died? How did I not know this. Jeez, that team (or rotation, at least) really was cursed.

14. Dag Nabbit at ExactlyAsOld.com Posted: July 29, 2013 at 05:48 PM (#4507264)

I remember when Cubs manager Jim Essian predicted a Fidyrich-like lovefest for Castillo from the fans. It never quite panned out like that, but I always liked him.

15. SG Posted: July 29, 2013 at 06:16 PM (#4507290)

Bummer. I've only been to Wrigley once and Castillo was on the mound and was masterful.

16. Bull Pain Posted: July 29, 2013 at 06:31 PM (#4507300)

I remember a story about Brian McRae buying Castillo a Mercedes after Castillo finally his first career BP home run. It supposedly took him 3 years to hit it after McRae made the offer.

17. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: July 29, 2013 at 07:12 PM (#4507325)

Gern, I remember the story surface right as the '08 postseason began. He was easily my favorite Cubs starting pitcher of those dreadful '90s teams.

This passing, obviously, is sad, too. I got into baseball in 1994 (great timing) and Castillo was one of the first players on my new favorite team, the Chicago Cubs (great choice), that I could remember.

I don't have much else to add other than there's a chance Castillo was one of the few Cubs players who bothered to return my card, freshly signed, in the mail. Or maybe it was Bob Patterson.

18. Random Transaction Generator Posted: July 29, 2013 at 07:32 PM (#4507335)

I barely remember Castillo being on the Jays, and was surprised to see he had a good record (10-5) and great ERA+ (142) in his one season (2000).
For some reason, I thought he was a reliever.

Edit: Ah, figured it out. I got him confused with Tony Castillo, a fungible reliever who pitched for the Jays a couple of seasons before that.

19. Spahn Insane, stimulus-funded BurlyMan™ Posted: July 29, 2013 at 07:43 PM (#4507340)

I got into baseball in 1994 (great timing) and Castillo was one of the first players on my new favorite team, the Chicago Cubs (great choice), that I could remember.

Heh--I got into baseball in 1981--great timing for a similar reason. (As a novice fan, I was very confused by the standings resetting at 0-0 for all the teams in mid-August.) And of course, my choice of rooting interest was equally poor, particularly since I didn't grow up in Cub country.

20. Brian C Posted: July 29, 2013 at 07:49 PM (#4507347)

I remember being at this game and joining the chorus of boos when Lefebrve took Castillo out of the game. Let him finish!

21. Arch Stanton Posted: July 29, 2013 at 07:59 PM (#4507353)

The #3, #4, and #5 leaders in GS for the '97 Cubs are dead. That's awful.

22. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: July 29, 2013 at 08:07 PM (#4507357)

The #3, #4, and #5 leaders in GS for the '97 Cubs are dead. That's awful.

Foster and Castillo started the first four wins for that team. They each started one game of the two two-game winning streaks that had the team record at 4-17. Foster had two wins, and Castillo had a win and a no-decision.

23. Adam Starblind Posted: July 29, 2013 at 08:27 PM (#4507373)

The correct answer to "you'll never guess who drowned."

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Family confirms former MLB pitcher, El Paso native Frank Castillo drowned in Ariz. lake

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