Bill Castro

Right-hander Bill Castro pitched all or part of 10 big-league seasons (1974-1983) for the Brewers, Yankees, and Royals. A reliever with excellent control, he frequently induced double-play grounders with his sinker-slider repertoire. As a player, scout, and coach, Castro spent 44 years in professional baseball. In 2009 with Milwaukee, he became the majors’ first full-time pitching coach from the Dominican Republic.1

William Radhames Castro Checo was born on March 29, 1952, in Barrero – about 15 miles from the Dominican Republic’s northwestern coast.2 He grew up in Navarrete, a municipality in the country’s second-largest province, Santiago. Castro’s parents, Juan Castro and Elvira Checo, had eight children, of whom he was the second oldest and the only boy. His father was a truck driver who later taxied passengers to outlying towns, like the 21st century Uber service. His mother made items to sell from home.3

Growing up, Castro followed the careers of Dominican baseball standouts like the Alou brothers – Felipe, Matty, and Jesús – and Juan Marichal, the majors’ winningest pitcher from 1960-1969. By the end of that period, Castro was a student at Liceo Pedro María Espaillat, where he played baseball and volleyball.4 He also threw the javelin, was an excellent swimmer, and enjoyed classical music.5 On weekends, he pitched for Super Selecto Bisonó, an amateur team sponsored by Reynaldo “Papi” Bisonó, a local politician who helped kids and served on the board of the Santiago-based Águilas Cibaeñas, a Dominican Winter League franchise.6

After Castro’s first year of high school, the Pittsburgh Pirates offered him $4,000 to turn professional.7 Scouts from the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies also expressed interest, but Castro’s father wouldn’t permit him to sign.8 A year later, however, scout Félix Delgado landed Castro for the Milwaukee Brewers. Delgado, a former Negro Leaguer from Puerto Rico, had become aware of him through one of his bird dogs, Santiago resident and Brewers’ shortstop Roberto Peña. After encouraging Castro to keep working out at their first meeting, Delgado returned a week later and asked him to throw five fastballs. Three pitches later, the scout said, “That’s enough.” Castro recalled that his signing on October 29, 1970, was notable for two reasons. The $8,000 bonus that he received was – he believed – the largest awarded to that point to any Dominican prospect, and Papi Bisonó arranged for the ceremony to be broadcast on national TV.9

When Castro was first mentioned in The Sporting News, his name was misspelled “Williams Castro” because of a clerical error by the Brewers front office.10 “The guys on the team have a lot of fun with that,” he said in 1975. “They call me Bills, Billies and Willies.”11 Throughout his playing career, his birthdate was erroneously listed as December 13, 1953 – the date Delgado recorded because he realized that being perceived as 20 months younger would improve Castro’s chances for advancement compared to pitchers of otherwise equal ability.12

In the majors, Castro was listed at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, but he hadn’t physically matured when he made his professional debut with the Newark (New York) Co-Pilots in the Class A New York-Pennsylvania League in 1971. Combined with the lack of English lessons and life skills instructions offered to Spanish-speaking players at the time, he compared his experience to being “thrown to the wolves.” When some teammates saw Newark manager Al Widmar approaching once that summer, they told Castro. “Billy, when Al comes by, tell him this, ‘Al, I’m gonna kick your ass.’” Unaware that he was being tricked, Castro obliged, but the skipper just tapped his shoulder and walked away. “He understood,” Castro recalled said.13

For the Co-Pilots, Castro made just nine relief appearances (0-1, 4.15 ERA) and worked only 13 innings, mostly in blowouts. Upon returning home, he told his father that he planned to enroll in college because he expected to be released. Later, he learned how close he had come when Tony Siegle – the Brewers’ farm director by the mid-1970s – told him, “Al Widmar spoke for you and saved you.” Looking back in 2021, Castro praised Widmar as a “great man.”14

Castro’s turning point came with the Dominican League’s Águilas Cibaeñas in the winter of 1971-72. In eight outings against competition including established big-leaguers, he posted a 2.51 ERA, gaining experience that he said “really helped me a lot.”15 The Águilas won the championship, and Castro was on their roster when the Dominican Republic hosted the Caribbean Series.16

In 1972, Castro went 10-9 (3.04 ERA) to help the Danville (Illinois) Warriors win the Single-A Midwest League title. He topped the circuit with 45 appearances and 17 saves. Castro pitched only three times for the Águilas that winter, but he was 11-4 (1.82) with 12 saves upon returning to Danville in 1973. Over 114 innings, he allowed just one home run and (calculated retrospectively) posted the Midwest League’s best WHIP (1.053).17 In his lone start on July 29, Castro beat Waterloo, 2-1, with a complete-game five-hitter. He also collected the only hit of his U.S. professional career – an RBI bunt single.18

The Brewers added Castro to their 40-man roster. He worked only three regular-season innings for the Águilas but retired the only batter he faced in his Dominican League playoff debut.

Castro advanced to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1974. Although he was tagged for 21 homers in 105 innings with the Sacramento Solons, the club’s home ballpark was largely to blame. Hughes Stadium’s leftfield fence was just 233 feet from home plate. Hitters blasted 493 homers in 72 games there that season.19 In 50 appearances, Castro’s 4.71 ERA was nearly two runs per game lower than the team’s overall mark. After the Brewers dropped out of contention, they promoted him to the majors to replace veteran reliever Dick Selma.20

On August 20, 1974, Castro made his big-league debut in Oakland. The A’s led, 6-1, with one out and nobody on base in the eighth inning. After Ángel Mangual and Jesús Alou greeted him with singles, Castro struck out Dick Green, allowed a run-scoring safety to Bert Campaneris, and retired Jim Holt on a fielder’s choice. Castro relieved eight times without a decision for Milwaukee.

For the Águilas that winter, Castro posted a 2.26 ERA and had the lowest WHIP in the Dominican League. He started and lost one semifinal playoff contest but earned a relief victory in the finals to help the Águilas claim the championship. Next, at the Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico, Castro was the only pitcher to defeat the host country.

Midway through 1975 spring training, Brewers manager Del Crandall remarked, “Castro pitched his way right into our plans… He can’t do better than he’s done down here.”21 Still, the skipper waited until the last day of camp to tell the rookie that he’d made the team.22 On Opening Day at Fenway Park, Castro blanked the Red Sox over five and a third innings of hitless relief, retiring 16 of the 17 batters that he faced.

Castro notched his first big-league save on May 16 in Minnesota by setting down eight straight Twins. Milwaukee’s 3-1 victory gave the surprising Brewers the best record in the American League. “This is great, just great,” raved Crandall. “We bring the kid in against their hot hitter, Larry Hisle, and he does the job for us.”23

Milwaukee trailed by two runs at Oakland on June 2 when Castro relieved Ed Sprague with two aboard in the bottom of the third inning. He made Gene Tenace ground into an inning-ending double play with a first-pitch slider, then held the defending three-time World Series champions scoreless the rest of the way.24 Castro earned his first major-league win when the Brewers came from behind to beat Vida Blue. “[Castro] just kept throwing sliders and making us hit them,” observed Oakland manager Al Dark.25

Castro’s performance culminated a six-outing stretch in which he limited opponents to one run over 25 and 2/3 innings, induced six double plays and lowered his season ERA to 0.89. Five nights later, he joined Crandall’s rotation but lost his first start, 5-2, in Anaheim. He then won two – beating Blue and the A’s in Milwaukee, then the Yankees at Shea Stadium – going seven innings each time. After he failed to last five frames in either of his next two outings, however, Castro was shut down because of a tender elbow.26 The problem persisted when he relieved twice after two weeks of rest. After July 20, he made just one September appearance as the Brewers tumbled to 94 losses and fifth place.

Initially, the Brewers attributed Castro’s discomfort to his starting stint, but he was diagnosed with gout that fall.27Although he missed the entire Dominican League season, his elbow improved after he made some dietary changes. After Castro resumed eating red meat, though, his elbow swelled up during a throwing session. A Milwaukee hospital confirmed that gout was to blame. “All he has to do is keep down the uric acid,” explained Brewers GM Jim Baumer. “It’s a big load off our minds since we’re counting rather heavily on Castro.”28

When spring training started late because of a labor dispute, Castro still couldn’t pitch.29 He made his season debut on May 1 but pulled a hamstring less than three weeks later.30 Finally, after he came off the disabled list on June 9, he became a reliable Brewers reliever for the next four and a half years.

Hank Aaron keyed Castro’s first two wins of 1976. Castro relieved Jerry Augustine in the eighth inning on June 18 in Oakland and started a twin killing on Sal Bando’s comebacker to neutralize a threat. After Aaron hit a tie-breaking homer in the top of the ninth, Castro retired the A’s in order. Castro’s next victory came at County Stadium on July 11, when he shut out the Rangers for two and a third innings before the future Hall of Famer’s 754th career homer decided the contest – a game-winning blast in the bottom of the 10th.

Twice in the same week, Castro generated double plays against the first batter he faced in critical situations: a game-ender against Detroit’s Rusty Staub on July 27, then Cleveland’s Rico Carty to preserve a ninth-inning tie on August 1. Although Castro lost the latter contest in the 10th – one of 95 defeats suffered by the last-place Brewers – he combined with fellow righty reliever Danny Frisella for six wins and 12 saves in July and August, when Milwaukee went 33-28. “With Danny and Bill Castro, we finally have our bullpen set the way I wanted it from the beginning,” said Brewers manager Alex Grammas.31 Sadly, the 30-year-old Frisella died in an automobile accident on New Year’s Day, 1977.

In Castro’s return to Dominican League action that off-season, he notched eight saves with a 2.30 ERA in 28 outings. The Águilas Cibaeñas’ bid for a third straight title ended with a defeat to Tigres del Licey in the circuit’s finals.

In 1977, Milwaukee enjoyed an AL-best 14-7 start with Castro earning three of the victories and saving five. Although the Brewers had already fallen out of first place on their way to another 95 losses by May 8, Castro was tied for the league lead in saves after inducing Mickey Stanley’s game-ending double-play grounder at Tiger Stadium. Castro led the Brewers with 51 appearances in ’77, and his 13 saves ranked 10th in the circuit.

Castro led the Dominican League with nine saves in 1977-78 and added one more each in the playoff semifinals and finals. The Águilas won their third title in four seasons and went to the Caribbean Series in Mazatlán, Mexico, where they fell twice to the prevailing Puerto Ricans. The day after Castro was charged with one of the losses in the bottom of the 10th, he suffered leg injuries in a car accident that caused him to arrive a week late for spring training.32

Milwaukee’s new manager in 1978 was former Orioles pitching coach George Bamberger, who said, “I like [Castro]. He doesn’t have the natural ability of Eduardo] Rodríguez, but he can throw the ball over the plate.”33 Although Castro averaged only 3.3 strikeouts per nine innings in the majors, his impressive walk rate of 2.4 became an outstanding 1.7 when intentional free passes were removed. His velocity rarely reached 90 mph, but he kept fastballs, sliders, and changeups low in the strike zone from his three-quarters delivery.34

By June 21, Castro had allowed only one run in his first 14 appearances, and the Brewers were well on their way to the first winning season in franchise history. During Milwaukee’s season-best 10-game winning streak, he earned two wins and one save. Overall, Castro posted a 1.81 ERA with eight saves – one behind southpaw Bob McClure for the team lead.

The Águilas won another Dominican League championship in 1978-79, with Castro earning two victories in the finals. Another Caribbean Series disappointment followed, however, as the Dominicans (4-2) finished second to the Venezuelans (5-1) in Puerto Rico. The teams were even entering a showdown in each club’s fifth contest, but Castro suffered a costly 2-1 loss on an unearned run in the bottom of the 10th.35

The 1979 Brewers won 95 games and finished second in the AL East. Castro led the team with six saves and posted a 2.03 ERA, but he made only 39 appearances. “I don’t think I get enough credit,” he said, recalling several stretches where he went more than a week without pitching. “It’s hard enough when you pitch every day…. I only pitched 44 innings. The year before 50. That’s not enough.”36 Milwaukee’s starting pitchers led the majors with 61 complete games, and Castro was often reserved for situations when the club needed a double play. “He understands groundball pitching,” noted pitching coach Cal McLish. “I’m sure that’s what he does most of the time, throw for ground balls.”37

In the Dominican League, Castro split two playoff decisions, but the Águilas were eliminated in the semifinals. Right before spring training, he married Mary Fronk in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. When Castro’s best man couldn’t make it from the Dominican Republic in time, Milwaukee pitcher Jerry Augustine filled in.38

The Brewers slipped back to third place with an 86-76 record in 1980, plagued by a major-league worst .353 winning percentage (12-22) in one-run games. Castro’s 2.77 ERA was solid, and he established personal bests with 56 appearances, 84 1/3 innings and 16 double-play groundballs. “Billy just gets better and better, the more work he has,” remarked Buck Rodgers, the Brewers manager for part of the season following Bamberger’s spring training heart attack. “I think the main thing is getting the work,” Castro agreed. “I think I’ve shown some people around here I can pitch.”39

That fall, Castro became a free agent, and the Brewers, Yankees, Mets, Expos, Rangers, A’s, and Mariners secured the rights to negotiate with him by selecting him in the re-entry draft.40 He was 1-1 with a save for the Águilas in the Dominican League finals, but Licey prevailed, five games to four.

Milwaukee’s interest in retaining Castro waned after they acquired future Hall of Fame closer Rollie Fingers at the winter meetings. “We liked [Castro],” said Brewers GM Harry Dalton. “It’s just that we weren’t sure what kind of role he’d play.”41 Later, Castro admitted he had “wanted to stay in Milwaukee. I liked it there.”42 On February 17, 1981, he signed with the New York Yankees.

Castro appeared in 11 of New York’s first 45 games in 1981 and posted a 3.79 ERA. Over 19 innings, however, he allowed 26 hits while striking out only four. On June 5, the Yankees convinced him to accept an assignment to the Columbus (Ohio) Clippers of the Triple-A International League. “They guaranteed the third year of my contract. That’s the only reason I came here,” Castro explained. “I got $285,000 for two years and then another $175,000 for the third.”43 When major-league players went on strike less than a week later – and stayed off the field for nearly two months – Castro continued to receive his full salary. “I like the paycheck. I just don’t like getting it in Columbus,” he said. “I don’t really want to be here, and I shouldn’t be here.”44

When the strike was settled, Castro was loaned to New York’s rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate for one night to start an exhibition against the returning big-leaguers at Yankee Stadium on August 7. Castro hurled five shutout innings, prompting Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to say, “He’ll be back with us. I guarantee you that.”45After Castro finished Columbus’s season with an 8-1 record, the Yankees recalled him in September, but he didn’t appear in any games.

Castro led the Águilas in saves that winter, but his major-league future remained unclear. The Yankees agreed to trade him, release him, or guarantee him a roster spot by March 24, 1982, and he was dealt to the California Angels for third baseman Butch Hobson on deadline day. The Major League Baseball Players Association investigated the swap because Buzzie Bavasi, the Angels’ executive vice president, had expressed his intention to compensate the Yankees – even though it wasn’t required – for California’s signing of free agent Reggie Jackson.46As for Castro, Bavasi remarked, “I don’t know about the future but at this time Castro doesn’t fit into our plans.”47

Less than a week before Opening Day, Castro was released by the Angels, nearly prompting him to quit.48 Instead, he signed with the Oakland A’s, reported to their Tacoma (Washington) Tigers farm club in the Triple-A PCL, and posted a 3.00 ERA in 12 outings. The A’s brought him back to the majors on June 19 but released him six days later without using him. “I thought I must be in everybody’s black book for some reason,” Castro said. “My record showed I had not done a bad job in the big leagues, but no one would let me pitch.”49

On July 6, Castro signed with his fourth organization of 1982 – the AL West-leading Kansas City Royals. That night, he worked two scoreless innings to save a 6-2 victory over the Red Sox at Royals Stadium. In his first two months with Kansas City, Castro recorded a 2.75 ERA in 17 relief appearances. He went 2-1 in four starts after replacing rookie Bud Black in the rotation for the last two weeks of the pennant race, but the Royals finished three games behind the Angels.

That winter, Castro pitched his final campaign for the Águilas Cibaeñas. The team reached the Dominican League finals for the eighth time in his 11 seasons. Including playoffs, Castro made 178 appearances (five starts) for the Águilas with a 2.95 ERA and 33 saves.

Back with the Royals in 1983, Castro missed a week of spring training with a “touch of pneumonia.”50Although he won both of his decisions in 18 outings that season, his ERA was 6.64 and Kansas City released him at the All-Star break. Castro signed with the Brewers one week later and finished the season with Milwaukee’s PCL affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians.

Over six full major-league seasons and parts of four others, Castro worked in 303 games and went 31-26 with 45 saves and a 3.33 ERA. He wrapped up his professional pitching career with one final winter of Dominican League play as a starter for the La Romana-based Azucareros del Este.

In 1984, Castro began a 28-year run with the Brewers organization as a coach and scout. One of the players that he helped Milwaukee discover was Dave Nilsson, an Australian slugger on a tour of the United States whom he saw playing semipro ball in Chicago. “He hadn’t played that much baseball, but he had natural ability,” Castro recalled. “You could see he was above the rest of the team.”51 Nilsson went on to play eight seasons for the Brewers and appear in the 1999 All-Star Game.

After a few years instructing prospects in towns like Beloit, Wisconsin, and Helena, Montana, Castro served as Milwaukee’s minor-league pitching coordinator from 1988-1991. In 1992, he joined the major-league staff as a bullpen coach, a position he retained for 17 seasons through five managerial changes.

On May 16, 2000, Castro returned to the mound – albeit in the bullpen – to help the Brewers pull out a victory. With runners on second and third in the bottom of the 16th inning, Milwaukee’s Henry Blanco batted with one out and pitcher Horacio Estrada on deck. The Brewers had already used all of their available relievers, so Castro began warming up to fool the visiting Astros into believing that Estrada would be replaced by a pinch-hitter. When the Astros pitched to Blanco instead of intentionally walking him, he delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly.52

When Brewers pitching coach Dave Stewart stepped down on July 29, 2002, Castro took over the job for the rest of the season. “I’m really excited about it,” he said. “It’s something I wanted to do for a long time.”53 Castro implemented a new system to chart pitch locations and better provide his charges with immediate feedback.54 “A lot of people say they have a philosophy, but I deal with individual guys,” he explained. “You’ve got 11 guys on the staff, and they have 11 sets of problems.”55

“[The Brewers] have got a gold mine sitting there in Billy Castro,” said Milwaukee reliever Chad Fox. “Nobody works harder or cares more about the pitchers than Billy does.” Teammate Mike DeJean added, “Billy’s strength is mechanics…. He is just unbelievable when it comes to spotting things that you are doing wrong with your delivery… He’s not afraid to take you into the video room and show you things, and he explains it so that it’s easy to understand.”56 In 2003, however, new Brewers manager Ned Yost brought Mike Maddux in to be his pitching instructor, so Castro returned to the bullpen. Castro’s next pitching coach assignment came in 2006, for the Dominican Republic’s inaugural World Baseball Classic team.

On September 2, 2008, Castro became a U.S. citizen.57 That November, the Brewers announced that he would be the team’s full-time pitching coach in 2009 – the first Dominican Republic native to fill the position in the majors. Although the Brewers were coming off their first playoff appearance in 26 years, the team had lost starting pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency, and holdovers Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush battled injuries. After a 13-22 stretch dropped Milwaukee from first place to a sub-.500 record through August 11, GM Doug Melvin shook things up with a series of changes – including replacing Castro with Chris Bosio. “It is disappointing,” Castro acknowledged. “This was my dream job come true, especially here in Milwaukee.”58 Former Brewer Mike Adams, then a reliever for the Padres, remarked, “It’s disappointing to see Billy get fired like that as a scapegoat. It’s wrong.”59

Castro returned to the Brewers in 2010 and 2011 as the organization’s Latin American pitching advisor. In 2012, the Baltimore Orioles hired him to be their bullpen coach under manager Buck Showalter, who said, “I think you’d have to look real hard to find a more experienced bullpen coach than [Castro]. He has done this for a number of years and is very well respected.” At the time, Castro was Baltimore’s only Spanish-speaking coach. The Brewers hadn’t had any when he first started in professional baseball. “Having somebody that [Latin players] can feel comfortable with and talk to, not only about baseball but other things that can relate to you, you feel more comfortable that way,” Castro said.60

Prior to the 2013 season, Castro was the pitching coach for the Dominican team that won the World Baseball Classic. That summer, he stepped into the same role with Baltimore on an interim basis when Rick Adair took a leave of absence. Castro believed that he would interview for the permanent position that fall, but the Orioles hired Dave Wallace instead, then added Dom Chiti to be the bullpen coach. Castro declined the offer of a scouting job, ending his professional baseball career after 44 years.”61

As of 2021, Castro and his wife Mary reside in Franklin, Wisconsin, where they raised two daughters, Katie and Cristina.

Last revised: December 20, 2021

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Bill Castro (telephone interviews with Malcolm Allen, October 6 and November 8, 2021).

This biography was reviewed by Andrew Sharp and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Warren Corbett.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com and www.retrosheet.org.

Bill Castro’s Dominican League statistics are from https://en.winterballdata.com/ (Subscription service. Last accessed November 12, 2021).

Notes

1 Cuqui Córdova, “La Crónica de los Martes,” Listin Diario (Dominican Republic), June 2, 2009, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2009/06/02/103314/william-castro (last accessed October 24, 2021).

2 Bill Castro, Telephone interviews with Malcolm Allen, October 6, and November 8, 2021. (Hereafter, Castro-Allen interview).

3 Castro-Allen interview.

4 Baltimore Orioles 2013 Media Guide: 46.

5 Lou Chapman, “Castro Puts Shoulder to Saggy Brewer Staff,” The Sporting News, June 21, 1975: 10.

6 Wendy Almonte, “Reynaldo – Papi – Bisonó: ‘El Estadio Cibao se Gestóen Mi Casa,” El Caribe (Dominican Republic), April 26, 2018, https://www.elcaribe.com.do/gente/10-momentos/reynaldo-papi-bisono-el-estadio-cibao-se-gesto-en-mi-casa/ (last accessed November 12, 2021).

7 Lou Chapman, “Brewers Toasting Castro as Dictator of Bullpen,” The Sporting News, April 26, 1975: 11.

8 Castro-Allen interview.

9 Castro-Allen interview.

10 Charley Ross, “Mixed Raschke Serving Starves Brewer Batters,” The Sporting News, August 28, 1971: 44.

11 Ron Bergman, “Sluggers Get No Respect,” Oakland Tribune, June 3, 1975: 35.

12 Castro-Allen interview.

13 Castro-Allen interview.

14 Castro-Allen interview.

15 Castro-Allen interview.

16 “Primer Equipo Águilas Serie Caribe 1972,” Diario Libre (Dominican Republic), January 29, 2007, https://www.diariolibre.com/deportes/primer-equipo-guilas-serie-caribe-1972-DLDL124315 (last accessed October 19, 2021).

17 WHIP, developed after Castro pitched, is walks plus hits allowed divided by innings pitched.

18 “First Start, First Hit,” The Sporting News, August 18, 1973: 44. Castro had six hits in the Dominican eague.

19 Bill Conlin, “Homers Delight Sacramento Fans,” The Sporting News, September 28, 1974: 35.

20 Lou Chapman, “Brewer Barrels,” The Sporting News, August 31, 1974: 30.

21 Associated Press, “Brews Win Behind Coluccio, Castro,” Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), March 19, 1975: 26.

22 Chapman, “Brewers Toasting Castro as Dictator of Bullpen.”

23 Associated Press, “Brewers Bullpen Hits Top” Capital Times, May 17, 1975: 6.

24 Bergman, “Sluggers Get No Respect.”

25 Associated Press, “Castro ‘Slider’ Ends Skid; Brewers Whip Oakland,” Capital Times, June 3, 1975: 17.

26 Lou Chapman, “Brewers Hear Good News from Hurlers,” The Sporting News, February 21, 1976: 21.

27 Lou Chapman, “Brewers,” The Sporting News, July 26, 1975: 24.

28 Chapman, “Brewers Hear Good News from Hurlers,”

29 Lou Chapman, “Brewer Kegs,” The Sporting News, January 15, 1977: 48.

30 Associated Press, “Ed Sprague Contemplates Quitting,” Capital Times, June 10, 1976: 49.

31 Lou Chapman, “Frisella’s Fireman Act Gets Rave Notices in Milwaukee,” The Sporting News, September 4, 1976: 25.

32 “Brewer Suds,” The Sporting News, March 18, 1978: 62.

33 Lou Chapman, “Brewers Will Top .500, Bamberger Promises,” The Sporting News, February 11, 1978: 54.

34 Tony Piña, Guía del Beisbol Professional Dominicano: IV Edición 1985 (Dominican Republic, 1985): 204.

35 “Cuarenta Años del Nombramiento de Willie Horton Como Manager de los Navegantes de Magallanes,” Magallaneando, December 6, 2018, http://magallanenando.blogspot.com/2018/12/cuarenta-anos-del-nombramiento-de.html (last accessed October 23, 2021).

36 Castro actually pitched 44 1/3 innings in 1979, and 49 2/3 in 1978. Tom Flaherty, “Brewers to Step Up Calls to Clutch Pitcher Castro,” The Sporting News, April 5, 1980: 49.

37 Flaherty, “Brewers to Step Up Calls to Clutch Pitcher Castro.”

38 Tom Flaherty, “Foaming Over,” The Sporting News, March 15, 1980: 47.

39 Tom Flaherty, “Brewers’ Pen Zero Heroes,” The Sporting News, June 21, 1980: 14.

40 Jack Lang, “Surprises in Draft,” The Sporting News, November 29, 1980: 51.

41 Tom Flaherty, “Castro Still a ‘Free Man’,” The Sporting News, January 24, 1981: 46.

42 Dan Shaughnessy, “Bill Castro is Paid Not to Work,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), July 25, 1982: H3.

43 “B & B Boys,” The Sporting News, July 4, 1981: 42.

44 Ira Berkow, “Business as Usual in the Minors,” New York Times, June 14, 1981: A1.

45 Al Mari, “Baseball Back in Big Apple,” Journal-News (Nyack, New York), August 8, 1981: 19.

46 Associated Press, “Steinbrenner Blasts, Warns Lemon,” Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) Times, March 26, 1982: 13.

47 Ross Newhan, “Angels Trade Hobson to Yanks for a Discard,” Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1982: OC-BC1.

48 Associated Press, “Relief Pitcher Starts Wins for Kansas City, 5-2,” Chillicothe (Missouri) Constitution-Tribune, September 15, 1982: 3.

49 Shaughnessy, “Bill Castro is Paid Not to Work.”

50 Stan Isle, “Moral to Steinbrenner Story,” The Sporting News, March 7, 1983: 37.

51 Tom Haudricourt, “Brewers Expect a Lot from Healthy Nilsson,” Milwaukee Sentinel, April 14, 1993.

52 Mike Eisenbath, “Not Exactly the Natural,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 21, 2000: D7.

53 Drew Olson, “The Wait is Over for Castro,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, July 30, 2002: 5C.

54 Michael Cunningham, “Coaches Step Up Efforts,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 11, 2002: 7C.

55 Olson, “The Wait is Over for Castro.”

56 Olson, “The Wait is Over for Castro.”

57 Baltimore Orioles 2013 Media Guide: 46.

58 Tom Haudricourt, “Melvin Reshuffles Deck,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 13, 2009: C1.

59 Bill Center, “Hot Kouzmanoff Opts to Wait and See,” San Diego Union-Tribune, August 14, 2009: C7.

60 Dan Connolly, “Hale, Castro Added as Coaches,” Baltimore Sun, December 8, 2011: D3.

61 Eduardo A. Encina, “Chiti Hire Made Official,” Baltimore Sun, November 12, 2013: D2.