Ramon Castro: 2006 N.L. Eastern Champion Mets Back Up Catcher (2005 - 2009)

Ramon Abraham Castro was born on March 1, 1976, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. The six foot three, catcher was a first round pick (17th pick overall) in the 1994 draft for the Houston Astros. Castro was actually the first Puerto Rican played to be drafted by the Astros.

Moniker: Back in those days he earned the nickname “Bigote” which means mustache. 

Castro played six seasons in the minors having his best year in 1999 hitting 15 HRs with 61 RBIs. He was traded to the Florida Marlins in 1998 making his MLB debut in late August of 1999. 

MLB Career: On August 27th 1999 he made his MLB debut as a late inning defensive replacement in a loss to Houston. In September he hit his first career HR which came in St. Louis during a 9-3 loss to the Cardinals. Castro saw a lot of playing time that month, batting .179 for the season.

Ramon spent six seasons with the Marlins, at first sharing time with Mike Redmond behind the plate, until Charles Johnson arrived for his second term in Florida.

2003 Marlins Championships Season: Castro hit his Marlin best .283 as a member of their 2003 World Championship team. He appeared in 40 games during the regular season hitting five HRs with eight RBIs but saw no post season action.

In December of 2004 Castro signed as a free agent with the New York Mets and would spend four and a half seasons in New York as a backup catcher.

Music Trivia: The theme music Castro chose when he came to bat at Shea, was the Darth Vader Imperial march from the Star Wars movies. 

Mets Career: Castro was one of the slowest runners the Mets ever had; it was almost comical to watch him run the bases. If he had to circle around a few bases at once, he would slow up even more as he ran out of gas. His teammates would let him have in a fun way, as he became the ridicule of many slow running jokes in the dugout. 

2005: Castro came into New York backing up future Hall of Famer, Mike Piazza in what was his final season as a Mets player. 

Walk Off Hit: On April 16th he drove in his first Mets run in heroic style. He entered the game at catcher in the top of the 9th inning with the Mets ahead 3-2. Braden Looper blew the lead & the Marlins tied the game. In the bottom of the 9th, Castro hit a walk off base hit off Guillermo Mota to beat his old Marlin teammates 4-3.

Multi-Three RBI Game: On June 16th in a 9-6 win in Oakland over the A's, Ramon had his first three RBI game of the season. In the Mets seven run 5th inning, Castro hit a bases loaded double off Tim Harikkala scoring all three runs. He then advanced to third base on an error, much to the delight of his teammates laughing at his base running in the dugout.

In July playing in 14 games, he had five multi-RBI games while hitting three HRs. 

On July 6th, in a 9-6 Mets win in D.C. he hit a two-run single off the Nationals Livan Hernandez, but the slow-footed Castro was thrown out at second base trying for the double. 

Multi- Three RBI Game: On July 27th, in a 9-3 win at Colorado he went back-to-back with Marlon Anderson for 4th inning HRs off the Rockies Jamey Wright. Castro added a two run double in the next inning.
 
On August 13th in 1 5-1 win over the Dodgers, Ramon hit a solo HR at Dodger Stadium off DJ Houlton. A week later he hit a three run HR at Shea Stadium in a 9-8 win over the Washington Nationals for his third multi-three RBI game of the season.

Multi- Five RBI Game: On August 23rd, in the first game of a double header at Arizona, Ramon drove in a career five runs gathering up two hits, in the Mets 14-1 romp over the Diamond backs. Castro collected an RBI single & a fielder's choice RBI. In the 6th inning he hit a bases clearing three run double off Lance Cormier topping off his big day.

Multi-Three RBI Game: On August 30th in a 6-4 win over the Phillies at Shea Stadium, Castro hit an 8th inning three run HR off Ugueth Urbina leading the Mets to the come from behind win. It was the fifth time he drove in three or more rusn in a game that season.

That season in 99 games, Ramon collected a career high 41 RBIs, with nine multi-RBI games. He hit .244 with eight HRs 16 doubles posting a .756 OPS. Castro struck out 58 times with 25 walks & a .321 on base %. Behind the plate in 99 games he threw out 31% of would be base stealers, above the league average.

When Mike Piazza’s Mets career ended as they let him go to free agency, the Mets traded for the Dodgers Paul Loduca in the off season putting Castro in a back up role to him.

Mets 2006 NL Eastern Championship Season: Ramon opened up his season, with a six game game hit streak collecting doubles in the first two games he played in on the season. 

Multi-Three Hit Games: On April 22nd, Castro had his first three hit game hitting a two run HR off the Padres Chris Young in an 8-1 win in San Diego. 

On April 26th in his second straight three hit game, as the Mets were now in San Francisco, Ramon led off the top of the 11th inning with a base hit. He was sacrificed over then scored the go ahead run on Chris Woodward's double as New York went on to a 9-7 win.

On May 27th he homered off the Marlins Dontrell Willis in a 7-4 in Florida. On June 18th Castro hit his third HR of the season, coming off the Orioles Chris Britton in a 9-4 win at Shea.

On July 1st in the Bronx, Castro broke up a subway series tie, with a 4th inning RBI base hit off "the Big Unit" Randy Johnson. The Mets went on to an 8-3. 

Injury: At the end of July, Castro suffered a rib cage injury that shut him down for nearly three weeks, then while at a rehab assignment at A ball Brooklyn he tear his meniscus in his knee missing most of September. Ramon returned in the final week of the season & made the post season roster.

Castro played in just 40 games backing up main catcher Paul LoDuca. 

On the season he hit .238 with four HRs seven doubles & 12 RBIs. Behind the plate he threw out 35% of would-be base stealers posting a .996 fielding %.

2006 Post Season: Castro did not play in the Mets NLDS win over the Dodgers or the NLCS loss to the Cardinals.

2007: To start out the season, Ramon hit HRs in three of his first six games while driving in eight runs in that time. First in Atlanta he homered in a 3-2 Mets loss. On April 19th, he homered off the Marlins Rick van den Hurk in an 11-3 win at Florida. On April 21st, in a 7-2 win at Shea he hit a two run HR off the Braves Chuck James.

In May Castro played in just six games but drove in runs in two of those starts. 

Subway Series Trivia: On June 16th he had a subway series HR off Tyler Clippard in an 11-8 Met loss. In 15 career subway series games Ramon hit two HRs & drove in seven runs while batting .275.

In July he batted .410 with 16 hits hitting three HRs with nine RBIs  raising his season average above .300. 

From July 19th thru July 22nd, he drove in runs in three straight games, also hitting his sixth HR of the season in the Mets 13-9 win in Los Angeles. 

Multi- Three RBI Game: On August 1st he hit a three run HR in Milwaukee, leading to an 8-5 Mets win over the Brewers. Two days later in a win at Wrigley Field, he hit his ninth HR of the season setting a new career best.

Castro struggled the rest of the month batting just .160. He would get injured again missing action from August 12th to September 17th.

In September he hit two HRs in the final week of the season. 

Multi-Three RBI Game: On September 22nd in South Florida, he hit a three run HR off Byung-Hyun Kim in a 7-2 Mets win. The Mets were still 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies in first place. 

In his last 28 games with an at bat, Castro hit eight HRs with 20 RBIs. He closed out the season with a solo HR in the 13-0 win over the Marlins at Shea on the next to last game of the season that featured a bench clearing brawl. 

The win gave the Mets hope for a playoff berth in the final game but they fell 8-1 to the Marlins. The Mets had held on to first place until September 26th, then lost six of their last seven games missing the playoffs.

 In 2007 Castro played in 52 games with career highs in batting .285 & HRs with 11. He also had six doubles 31 RBIs 24 runs s cored a .331 on base & .887 OPS. Behind the plate, he threw out just three base runners in thirty stolen base attempts on him (10%). 

2008: In 2008 the Mets signed Brian Schneider as their main catcher, once again putting Castro in a backup role. Castro began the season the disabled list with a strained hamstring. In May he drove in runs in three straight games & back-to back games in June as well. 

On June 16th, the Mets were a game below .500 six games behind Philadelphia when the team fired manager Willie Randolph replacing him with Jerry Manuel.

On June 28th Castro hit his second career subway series HR, this one off of Andy Pettitte in a 3-2 loss at Shea Stadium. In July he saw action in 15 games, having six multi-hit games & five multi RBI games.

Multi-Three RBI Games: On July 1st he had his first multi-three RBI game of the season, with a two run double & an RBI single leading the Mets to a 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. A week later hit a three run HR off the Giants Jonathan Sanchez in a 5-0 Johan Santana shut out at Citi Field. 

On July 20th & 22nd, he hit HRs in back-to-back games, coming in a 7-5 win at Cincinnati then in New York in a loss to Philadelphia. During the month he had six multi-hit games & raised his average up to .283. 

On August 16th in Pittsburgh, he hit seventh & final HR of the year, coming off Zach Duke in a 7-4 Mets win. 

In September he missed two seeks of action due to a quad injury returning on September 15th. That night the Mets were still up by a half game in the NL East but they would lose six of their last nine games including the last game played at Shea Stadium, eliminating them selves from the playoffs once again.

On the season Castro hit .245 with seven HRs seen doubles & 24 RBIs. He struck out 34 times & walked 13 times posting a .312 on base % & a .753 OPS. Behind the plate he improved from the year before throwing out 22% of would-be base stealers. 
  
2009: In 2009 the Mets third string Catcher Omir Santos; had a good start to the season & passed Castro as the backup catcher. The season fell apart early for the Mets as well. All this made Castro expendable. 

centerfieldmaz Trivia: In May of 2009, centerfieldmaz caught a Ramon Castro foul ball, sitting up behind home plate in the Promenade club seats at the new Citi Field. It was one of Castro's last games as a New York Met. It was the second ball centerfieldmaz caught at an MLB game, although this one bounced a few times before being able to make the grab.

On May 29th, 2009, Castro was traded to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Lance Broadway. A name fit for New York although he never pitched that well.

Mets Career Stats: In his Mets five-year career, Ramon played in 256 games as catcher (11th most in Met history). He batted .252 with 33 HRs 41 doubles & 121 RBIs. He was one of the slowest Mets runners in team history.

Post Mets Career: Ramon quickly enjoyed fame in Chicago. On July 23rd, 2009 he was behind the plate, catching Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle for the first time. That day Buehrle put himself in the record books, throwing the seventeenth perfect game in MLB history with Castro calling the signals. 

Castro would only hit .184 in Chicago that season, seeing action in 31 games. He spent three seasons in Chicago, playing in 91 games. 

In 2010 he improved to a .278 average hitting eight HRs with two doubles & 21 RBIs. In 2011 he hit .235 playing in 23 games.

Career Stats: Castro retired at age 35 finishing his 13-year career batting .237 with 338 hits 67 HRs 66 doubles 155 runs scored & 217 RBIs. He struck out 375 times walked 151 times, posted a .310 on base % & .734 OPS.

At catcher: In 503 games behind the plate, he threw out 23% of base runners trying to steal. Castro posted a .990 fielding % with 21 double plays turned. 

Retirement: After his MLB career he played in the Puerto Rican Winter League, the Long Island Ducks (2013) & in the Italian Baseball League with Telemarket Rimini (2014).

Family: Ramon & wis wife Brenda live in Miramar, Florida. Together they have two daughters. Ramon also has another daughter from a different mother.