At the age of 43, former Colorado Rockies and Mexican star Vinny Castillo continues to play baseball.
The last time we checked on Castilla he was putting up decent numbers for the Hermosillo Naranjeros. A year later he’s back and was seen in Hermosillo taking grounders at third base this morning.
Said Castilla, “I am in perfect condition, although I have not seen pitches in almost a year. I am sure with a few days of batting practice and taking grounders I will be ready to debut in the LMP (Mexican Pacific League) on December 7.”
Castilla, who retired from Major League Baseball in 2006, indicated that he did not know when he will say a final goodbye to professional baseball. He just said that while he is still in good physical condition he will go on playing. In 30 games last season for Hermosillo, Vinny hit .292 with 7HR and 27 RBI. If you were to pro-rate those HR #’s over a 162 game season… you’d have ~ 38HR. So he’s still got some game left!
Over the course of his Major League career, Castilla connected for 320 homers, 1884 hits and drove in 1105 runs in 16 seasons.
In other news, Hermosillo has really been trolling for the free agents, signing infamous slugger Karim Garcia.
From Baseball Mexico:
The 35-year-old Garcia hit .361 with a homer and 12 RBIs in 15 games for Hermosillo last winter before heading back to Korea, where he is known as the “Latino Bambino.” Garcia has achieved All-Star status in Korea but became disenchanted with the KBO after a seven-game suspension and $ 3,000 fine for arguing with an umpire during a September game, and says he’s considering playing for Monterrey in the Mexican League next year. He hit .374 with 20 homers in 76 games for the Sultanes in 2007.
Selected as The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1995, Garcia went on to bat .241 with 66 homers and 212 RBIs in 488 major league games between 1995 and 2004 (along with a .286 average for the Yankees in the 2003 World Series) and has played overseas in Japan as well as Korea.
Look out, LMP. Hermosillo is no joke!
Karim Garcia
Photo credits: Priscilla Mungarro
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