Castro Grateful for Game

by Matt Rogers

He is tall and rangy, built like Dwier Brown, the actor who played John Kinsella, Kevin Coster’s dad in Field of Dreams.

He’s a catcher, too… but the real thing, no ghost.

His girlfriend, Maris (there’s a baseball name), grew up in Rhode Island and is a big Red Sox fan. They met at Stanford.

His hometown has the same name as his family, but it’s pure coincidence.

He turned 22 in mid-June, but carries himself like someone considerably older. He’s passionate, yet calm, focused but accommodating. Gracious, patient, responsible, candid.

Thankful.

Meet Jason Castro, the Astros’ 2008 first-round draft selection with the 10th overall pick. Starting catcher of the Corpus Christi Hooks. Catcher for Team USA in the upcoming World Cup.

Catcher of the future at Minute Maid Park.

“It’s all happened fast,” Castro said of his ascension through the amateur and professional baseball ranks. “It’s all the things I looked forward to and hoped would come.”

Castro joined the Hooks on June 10 after doing all the damage he could for Lancaster in the High-A California League, bridging his promotion with a 17-game hitting streak from June 3-20 (.381).

“I drove to Corpus Christi from Lancaster,” Castro recalled. “I got to see a lot of the countryside.”

Despite heavy travel (the Hooks bus everywhere) and rare off days, he’s managed to visit Coastal Bend beaches with his teammates this summer.

“It’s been a great place. I’ve enjoyed my time here.”

Castro isn’t long for Corpus Christi, though he could be back come April. He leaves after the San Antonio road series on August 31, for Cary, N.C., and USA Baseball’s national training center. Only the Astros know where in the system he’ll begin 2010.

“I was very excited,” Castro said of his assignment to Team USA. “I never got a chance to do that at the amateur level. I had teammates and friends who played and they told me it was a great experience. I’ve always felt it’s something special.

“I’m honored to be part of a team representing our country and to have the opportunity to go abroad and play.”

Castro’s accomplishments as a player include All-Pac 10 honors, College World Series participation, Hawaii Winter League All-Star and 2008 top prospect in the New York-Penn League. His success is rooted in family passion for the game.

“Baseball has always been a big part of family life,” Castro explained. “Dad played in college (Cal State-Hayward), my grandfather played, and some of his brothers played professionally. It was our family sport, so it was assumed my brother (Ryan) and I would play.

“I also played soccer, basketball and swam, but my senior year in high school, I decided to focus on baseball and hoped it would be the sport I’d have some success in.”

One of the top high school catchers in Northern California at Castro Valley High, Jason was taken in the 43rd round of the 2005 draft by Boston. He signed as a catcher with Stanford, but played first base in his first two seasons, the second of which was marred by a broken hand bone. In the summer of 2007, he committed to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League, and that’s when Castro began to realize he could have his share of success. After batting .263 in his first two college campaigns, he hit .341 against the nation’s best pitchers.

“I’d had a particularly tough year at Stanford,” Castro remembered. “It had always been a dream of mine to go to the Cape and after I did well against the caliber of guys there, I felt success was something I could actually have.”

Then he returned to the Bay Area and had another dream season, providing much of the fuel for a Cardinal Omaha run: .376 batting average, 117 total bases, 14 home runs, 73 RBIs. His career BA in 16 postseason contests was .391.

If you surmise Castro doesn’t take success for granted, then I’ve done my job. Asked what he’d be doing if not packing his bags for another great baseball adventure, he was characteristically transparent.

“I’d be in school. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. If not for baseball, I’d probably still be in school trying to figure it out.”

But taking a Stanford education from the classroom and Sunken Diamond and figuring it out on the fields of Omaha, the low minors, the Texas League and Europe isn’t a bad way to go.

And along the road, you can count on this:

“I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” Castro stated. “I appreciate playing every day and hope to continue as long as I can.”