1954
Born October 23, 1954
Evanston, IL, USA
John Castino Marquee
b. October 23, 1954 · Minnesota Twins 1979–1984
John Castino shared American League Rookie of the Year in 1979 with Toronto's Alfredo Griffin, in one of the closest votes the award has produced, and looked like Minnesota's third baseman for a decade to come. He hit .302 in 1980 and .277 across six seasons.
A congenital back condition ended it instead. He played eight games in 1984, at twenty-nine, and retired on medical advice with the club's blessing and the remainder of his contract.
Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1954, Castino batted .278 with 646 hits and 41 home runs across 666 games, all of them for the Twins, and moved into a career in finance afterwards.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1979 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | MIN | 148 | 393 | 49 | 112 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 52 | 27 | 72 | 5 | .285 |
| 1980 | MIN | 150 | 546 | 67 | 165 | 17 | 7 | 13 | 64 | 29 | 67 | 7 | .302 |
| 1981 | MIN | 101 | 381 | 41 | 102 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 36 | 18 | 52 | 4 | .268 |
| 1982 | MIN | 117 | 410 | 48 | 99 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 37 | 36 | 51 | 2 | .241 |
| 1983 | MIN | 142 | 563 | 83 | 156 | 30 | 4 | 11 | 57 | 62 | 54 | 4 | .277 |
| 1984 | MIN | 8 | 27 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | .444 |
| Career | — | 666 | 2320 | 293 | 646 | 86 | 34 | 41 | 249 | 177 | 298 | 22 | .278 |
On this day & linked events
Image: Minnesota Twins, public domain