John Anthony Castino (born October 23, 1954) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

player. Castino played as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, primarily at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and second base, with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

from 1979 through 1984.

Professional career

Castino graduated from

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school, with its main campus for sophomores through seniors located in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, and a campus in Northfield, Illino ...

in Winnetka, Illinois. Castino attended and played baseball for

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

, in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was f ...

. He is considered the best player in Rollins history. Castino was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1976 amateur draft. Castino made his major league debut with the Twins on April 6, 1979. He played well and ended the season with a .285 batting average and 112

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

in 148 games. His performance led him to be voted as Rookie of the Year, along with Alfredo Griffin, who he tied in voting. The next season, Castino hit a career-high .302, and the year after that he led the American League with 9 triples. A good fielder, he switched to second base in 1982 and led the league's second basemen in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

that year. However, Castino started to suffer from chronic

back pain Back pain is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area is the most common ...

, and his career was cut short in 1984 by a fused disc in his back."John Castino Biography"
. ''baseballlibrary.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-31. He played his final game with the Twins on May 7, 1984. After his baseball career ended, Castino went back to college to get his degree and later became an investment advisor. In 2010, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in Minnesota Twins history.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castino, John 1954 births Living people Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Minnesota Twins players Wisconsin Rapids Twins players Orlando Twins players Baseball players from Illinois New Trier High School alumni Rollins Tars baseball players Sportspeople from Evanston, Illinois

Professional career

See also

References

External links