Tony Castillo

On an October evening in Philadelphia during the fourth game of the 1993 World Series, Toronto Blue Jays left-handed pitcher Tony Castillo entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of Al Leiter with the Blue Jays trailing the Phillies 12-7, two out and Mariano Duncan on first base. Castillo induced John Kruk to ground out, then pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing a run in each inning. With the score now 14-9 in favor of the Phillies, the Blue Jays scored six runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 15-14 lead, which the Toronto bullpen held, thus making Castillo the winning pitcher and the first Venezuelan-born pitcher to win a game in the World Series.

Antonio José “Tony” Castillo Jiménez was born in Quibor, Lara, Venezuela, on March 1, 1963. He began playing baseball at the age of 8 in his hometown, and from then on baseball became his passion. He left high school early to follow that dream.1 Before turning professional, Castillo played in various state and national tournaments, always representing the state of Lara. At the age of 19, Castillo was signed by the Cardenales de Lara to pitch in the 1982-83 Venezuelan winter league (he pitched for his home-state team every winter for the next 18 seasons, missing only the 1985-86 winter season). Castillo pitched creditably during his first winter season despite some injuries, pitched briefly in the postseason tournament, then in February 1983 was signed to a contract by the Toronto Blue Jays.2 In 1983, with the Toronto team in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, he pitched in only one game for three innings and got the save. During the following 1983-84 Venezuelan winter league season, he pitched in one game.3

The 1984 season found Castillo with the Florence Blue Jays of the Class-A South Atlantic League, where he completed his first full professional season, leading the team in wins with 11; innings pitched, 137 1/3; and games started, 24; and was second in strikeouts, 96. His strikeout/walk ratio was a good 1.92 and his ERA a decent 3.41. After the 1984 season, he again pitched in Venezuela and had a very fine winter league campaign, going 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 13 games, nine of them starts.

In 1985 Castillo pitched for the Kinston Blue Jays (Class-A Carolina League) where he went 11-7, pitching 127 2/3 innings. In 35 games, 12 of them starts, he had three saves and a sterling 1.90 ERA (third best in the league for pitchers pitching at least 100 innings). He did not pitch in the 1985-86 Venezuelan winter league.

In 1986 Castillo was supposed to pitch for the Knoxville Blue Jays (Double-A Southern League), but he missed all season due to tendinitis in his left shoulder which required surgery.4 He did manage to pitch briefly in the 1986-87 Venezuelan winter league, throwing 10 1/3 innings in four games and one start.

The 1987 season found Castillo, at the age of 24, back in Class-A ball with the Dunedin Blue Jays (Florida State League), where for the first time in his career he worked exclusively as a relief pitcher. In 39 games he registered a 6-2 won-lost record with six saves and a 3.36 ERA. He allowed only two home runs in 69 2/3 innings and averaged 8.0 strikeouts per 9 innings, numbers that were very good considering that he had not pitched for the entire 1986 season. Castillo returned that winter to Venezuela where he pitched 69 innings over 15 games, 13 starts, with a won-lost record of 6-4 and an ERA of 3.13.

Castillo began the 1988 season again with Dunedin, where in 30 games, all in relief, he saved 12 games and pitched to an ERA of 1.48, numbers which led to his promotion to the Knoxville Smokies of the Double-A Southern League. Castillo pitched in only five games while in Knoxville, but they were productive ones: eight innings, two hits, 11 strikeouts, one walk, two saves, and a 0.00 ERA. By mid-August, Castillo was called up to the Blue Jays, where he made his major-league debut on August 14 in Kansas City, pitching a scoreless eighth inning in a losing effort. In a book published in 1994, Castillo said, “I remember that I pitched one inning. In that moment I was nervous because I was pitching in the major leagues for the first time and I had never seen so many persons in a stadium, around 40 thousand people. Nevertheless, in my second opportunity I did not feel the same nervousness and I was more relaxed.”5

Castillo remained with Toronto for the rest of the season. In 1988 Toronto was in a close race with Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, and the New York Yankees for the division (they all finished within 3½ games of the eventual winner, Boston), though the Blue Jays had to finish 15-4 to get that close. Castillo gave the Toronto team a third left-handed relief pitcher (the others were David Wells and John Cerutti, who was a part-time starter). On September 3 he gained his first major-league win, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings of middle relief against the Rangers. Overall, he pitched 15 innings over 14 games, with an ERA of 3.00. For the second straight year, Castillo pitched in Venezuela over the winter, going 5-4 in 85 1/3 innings with a 2.74 ERA.

Castillo started the 1989 season with the Blue Jays and pitched, with mixed results, in 13 games through the middle of May before being sent down to Triple A. During this part of the season with the Blue Jays, his best outing came on April 16 when he pitched the final 4 2/3 scoreless innings at home against Kansas City to notch the save. A couple of rough outings on May 13-14 when he gave up nine hits and seven runs, five of them earned, in 1 1/3 innings ballooned his ERA to 7.71 and led to his demotion to Triple-A Syracuse.

Castillo remained with Syracuse until early August, when the Blue Jays called recalled him. Over the next three weeks, he pitched in four more games, pitching an inning or less in each, allowing no runs and lowering his ERA to 6.11. On August 24 he was traded to the Atlanta Braves with minor-league catcher Francisco Cabrera for middle-inning relief pitcher Jim Acker. Castillo remained with the Braves for the remainder of the season, appearing in 9 1/3 innings over 12 games, losing one, and ending up with an ERA of 4.82. Over the winter he pitched in Venezuela, having a very fine won-lost record of 7-3 with a 3.87 ERA over 72 innings in 16 games, 12 of them starts.

Castillo, who was given a $100,000 contract,6 spent most of the 1990 season with the Braves, except for a month from late June to late July which he spent with the Triple-A Richmond Braves working on some of his pitches, notably his curve. The 1990 season was not a very good one for the Braves as they ended up with the worst record in the majors, 65-97. However, for Castillo it was a pretty good season, as he led the Braves with 52 games pitched, 49 in relief, over 76 2/3 innings, giving up 93 hits, with a won-lost record of 5-1, one save, and an ERA of 4.23. After his recall he was used as a starter for the first time in his major-league career, starting three games, winning two with no losses and a 2.51 ERA. During the 1990 season, Castillo managed the only hit, walk, and run scored of his career. On June 20 at home against the Cincinnati Reds, he walked in the third inning against Jack Armstrong and came around to score, and then on August 15 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, in his second career start, Castillo singled against Neal Heaton. Considering that he was the winning pitcher in that August 15 game, it was a pretty good game all around for the lefty. During the 1990-1991 winter league in Venezuela, Castillo pitched in 13 games, 10 as a starter, with a won-lost record of 6-2 and an ERA of 3.91.

Despite his success in 1990, Castillo found himself optioned to Richmond to begin the 1991 season. He remained with Richmond until mid-August, pitching in 23 games, 17 of them starts, and 118 innings, to an ERA of 2.90. Castillo was recalled on August 11 when the Braves needed a left-hander to replace the injured Kent Mercker. Over the next two weeks, Castillo appeared in seven games, pitching ineffectively, winning one and losing one with a 7.27 ERA. Shortly after Mercker returned to the Braves, Castillo was traded to the New York Mets on August 28 for the more experienced Alejandro Peña. With the Mets, Castillo pitched in 10 games, starting three, winning one game with no losses, and finished with a 1.90 ERA. He was very effective in his starts, allowing only one earned run in 15 2/3 innings. In his first start for the Mets, on September 11, he threw six scoreless innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, getting the win in a 4-1 game. (Two pitchers named Castillo started that game: The Cubs’ starter was Frank Castillo.)

Castillo spent the 1991-92 winter in Venezuela, pitching in only eight games, all starts, and working to a won-lost record of 1-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 43 1/3 innings, the fewest innings he had thrown in a winter league in the previous four years.

The 1992 season was a difficult one for Castillo. He had been traded three times in the past three years, and then on January 22, 1992, he was again traded, along with Mark Carreon, this time to the Detroit Tigers. At the end of spring training, he was assigned to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, where he spent the entire season. There he barely started to get his pitching rhythm – the trainers were attempting to change his mechanics – when, according to Castillo,7 he broke his tibia, but the fracture was not medically detected for almost two months, at which point he was placed on the disabled list for six weeks and only returned to the Mud Hens with two weeks remaining in the season. During the season he appeared in only 12 games, starting nine, completing none, pitched in 44 2/3 innings, ending up with a won-lost record of 2-3 and a 3.63 ERA. At the end of the season he was released by the Tigers. Castillo, now apparently healthy, pitched in Venezuela and had his best-ever winter season, ending up with a won-lost record of 9-4 in 15 starts, pitching 101 1/3 innings, in which he struck out 79 and walked only 15 batters, ending up with a 2.22 ERA. For his outstanding winter season, he was named the Pitcher of the Year in Venezuela.8

However, Castillo had got a break by being on the Cardenales de Lara. Luis Leal, who had pitched his entire six-year major-league career for the Blue Jays and 14 winter seasons for Cardenales, encouraged Castillo to not give up and continue pitching, that he had had a horrible season, and that he was still young enough to make it back to the major leagues.9 At the same time, Cardenales le Lara pitching coach Derek Bosley and manager Garth Iorg, who also managed the Knoxville Blue Jays, both sent good reports back to the major-league club. Pat Gillick, the Jays’ general manager, paid a visit to Venezuela and informed Castillo that the team was interested in signing him because the Blue Jays need left-handers in the bullpen. Castillo’s agent had also been talking with the Cleveland Indians. Eventually, Castillo committed to the Blue Jays and was very happy since he was very familiar with the team, its staff, and players.10

So, at the age of 30 Castillo started over again with the Blue Jays. He pitched sparingly in spring training and began the season with Syracuse. He pitched in one game before being called up by the Blue Jays on April 15, making his first appearance on the 17th against the Indians in Cleveland. He never again pitched in the minor leagues.

During the 1993 season, Castillo pitched in 51 games, registering a won-lost record of 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 50 2/3 innings. He never pitched more than 2 2/3 innings in any game, but was quite effective all season, maintaining an ERA between 1.08 and 2.95 throughout most of the season, until a couple of rough outings in September raised his ERA over 3.00. Castillo allowed 19 runs (all earned) during the season, but seven of those were in September. Toronto won the AL East Division title with a record of 95-67, seven games better than the second-place Yankees.

In the ALCS, the Blue Jays defeated the White Sox four games to two, Castillo pitching one scoreless inning in each of the third and fifth games. The Blue Jays defeated the Phillies in the World Series in six games. Castillo’s performance during the Series was not particularly good: he was roughed up in two appearances for an 8.10 ERA, giving up six hits, one home run, and three runs in 3 1/3 innings. In Game Two he entered in the seventh inning with the Jays trailing 5-3 and gave up a home run to Lenny Dykstra. Then came that wild 15-14 fourth game whenhe gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings, but became the winning pitcher when the Blue Jays overcame a 14-9 deficit by scoring six runs in the top of the eighth inning. After the World Series, Castillo returned to Venezuela for the 1993-94 winter league, pitching in nine games, all starts, with a won-lost record of 2-3.

The World Series champion Blue Jays started the 1994 season well, but May and June were hard times and by the All-Star break they were 10 games under .500, and were in third place, 16 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees when the season was shut down after the players struck on August 11. Castillo had been exclusively a relief pitcher (as he remained for the duration of his major-league career), pitching mostly in the late innings, leading the Blue Jays in games pitched (41) and relief innings (68). He finished the season with a won-lost record of 5-2 with a 2.51 ERA, recording one save. Castillo returned to Venezuela for the 1993-94 winter league, pitching, as always, with his favorite Cardenales de Lara. There he pitched in 14 games, finishing with a record of 4-4 in 77 innings and an ERA of 2.57.

The 1995 season started about two weeks late after the strike ended. The Blue Jays finished in last place in the AL East with a record of 56-88, their worst record since the 1981 season. Castillo was the only one of the late-inning relief corps who remained healthy all season.11 Mike Timlin, the Blue Jays closer, eventually went on the DL for elbow surgery. Castillo recorded his first save of 1995 on June 14 against the Red Sox. He led the Blue Jays in games pitched (55), games finished (31), relief innings (72 2/3), and saves (13), finishing with a record of 1-5 with a 3.22 ERA. Castillo pitched in only six games (four starts) in the winter league, going 4-1 with a sterling 1.30 ERA in 27 2/3 innings.

The 1996 Blue Jays finished in fourth place in the AL East with a record of 74-88. Timlin returned healthy after his elbow surgery and immediately took over the Toronto closer duties. Castillo was used anywhere from as early as the second inning to the seventh or eighth. His lone save with the Blue Jays occurred on July 11 in Milwaukee when he replaced Timlin in the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded and retired his one opponent.

Castillo was traded to the Chicago White Sox on August 22, but still managed to finish third on the Blue Jays in games pitched (40) and led with 72 1/3 relief innings, finishing with a won-lost record of 2-3 and a 4.23 ERA.

The White Sox finished second behind Cleveland. Castillo pitched well for Chicago, with a won-lost record of 3-1 in 15 games over 22 2/3 innings with one save and a 1.59 ERA. He was granted free agency on December 7 but re-signed with the White Sox four days later for $1.2 million. During the offseason, Castillo pitched in only two games, three innings, and no decisions in Venezuela.

Castillo was 34 years old when the 1997 season started. Again, the White Sox finished in second place, six games behind the Indians. Castillo led the team with 64 relief appearances, pitching in 62 1/3 innings, and finishing with a won-lost record of 4-4 and a 4.91 ERA. He had a few bad outings early in the season and it wasn’t until the middle of June that he lowered his ERA below 7.00, and he only got it below 5.00 on the final two days of the season, when he also recorded two of his four saves. Playing in the winter league, he again had very limited playing time, seeing action in five games, 12 2/3 innings, losing his only decision. However, the Cardenales won the Venezuelan championship and Castillo got into six more games, allowing no earned runs. In the Caribbean Series the Venezuelan squad went 2-4.

The 1998 season was Castillo’s last in the major leagues. Again the White Sox finished second to the Indians. Castillo’s first two appearances were good ones, and his April results were fair, in 10 games pitching to a 4.26 ERA. However, in May he gave up 21 hits, including four home runs while pitching to a 10.32 ERA, and in June his ERA was 15.00. By June 19 Castillo had appeared in 25 games, giving up 38 hits (7 home runs) in 27 innings for an 8.00 ERA. He was released by the White Sox on June 21.

Castillo’s totals after 10 seasons in the majors were 28-23 in 403 games. He had six starts – three each for the Braves and Mets – and closed 114 games. His career earned-run average was 3.93. Because he worked primarily as a short reliever, he had only 18 plate appearances, with just the one base hit. He did have the win in Game Four in the 1993 World Series.

Castillo pitched in both the 1998-99 and (briefly) 1999-2000 Venezuelan winter league for the Cardenales. During the 1998-99 season he pitched in 15 games, 46 innings, starting seven games, and had a won-loss record of 4-1 with a 2.35 ERA. In his last professional season, 1999-2000, he appeared in seven games, all in relief, throwing 4 2/3 innings with a 5.79 ERA and no record.

Castillo pitched in 17 Venezuelan winter league seasons, all for the Cardenales de Lara, between 1982 and 1999, missing only the 1985-86 season. He had a won-lost record of 53-33, with a 2.86 ERA. He played in 12 postseasons, pitching in another 58 games, with a 16-7 won-lost record and a 2.53 ERA.

After his playing days, Castillo and his wife, Petra, remained in Quibor, his small longtime hometown. They have two children, Anthony José Jr. and Angie. He has worked in stints with teams of the Liga Paralela (Parallel League).

Last revised: January 30, 2026

Sources

Seasonal data was obtained from the Baseball-Reference.com website, and most in-game play-by-play information was found in the box scores at the Retrosheet.org website. Venezuelan Winter League seasonal data was obtained from the Venezuelan pelotabinaria website.

Photo credit: Tony Castillo, Getty Images.

Notes

1 Carlos Cárdenas Lares, Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, segunda edición (Caracas: Fondo Editorial Cardenas Lares, 1994), 285. The book is the source of most of the biographical information presented here.

2 Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, 285.

3 Venezuelan Winter League statistics are drawn from Registro Histórico Estadístico del Beisbol Profesional Venezolano, http://www.pelotabinaria.com.ve/beisbol/mostrar.php?ID=castant001.

4 Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, 285.

5 Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, 286. Actual attendance was a little over 27,000.

6 All salary data in this article was obtained at Baseball-Reference.com.

7 Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, 284.

8 Registro Histórico Estadístico del Beisbol Profesional Venezolano.

9 Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, 284.

10 Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas: Sus Vidas y Hazañas, 284.

11 The Sporting News Baseball Guide, 1996 Edition (St. Louis: The Sporting News Publishing Co.), 77.