ARLINGTON, TEXAS – There was a full Twins duffel bag sitting in front of Willi Castro’s locker after he played in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, stuffed with memorabilia from all the festivities at Globe Life Field.
Castro kept the “Willi Castro” placard that hung above him at the All-Star media day event. He had his eyes on his name card above his locker. After he pinch hit in the eighth inning, grounding out to third base in his lone at-bat, he made sure he kept his wrist band and arm sleeve.
“I took everything that I could get,” said Castro after playing in his first career Midsummer Classic. “It’s something that you don’t see a lot. I know there are a lot of guys that want to go to this event. It’s just something that you’re going to take whatever you see. I took a lot of stuff, I know that.”
Castro was told he would receive an at-bat during the game, so he didn’t worry about his long wait. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning during the American League’s 5-3 victory, it was finally his turn. The National League countered with a pitching change, bringing in Philadelphia Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman, which gave Castro a little extra time to look in the crowd and peek at Hoffman’s delivery on an iPad.
“I was a little nervous at first,” Castro said, “but when I was coming up to the plate, everything went away.”
Castro saw four pitches, all on the outside corner. He was looking for a fastball over the plate, but in a two-strike count, he bounced a splitter toward third base for the final out in the eighth inning.
Ironically, Mr. Versatility for the Twins — starting at least 10 games at five different positions this year — didn’t have an opportunity to play defense. He entered as a designated hitter when he pinch hit for Cleveland’s David Fry.
“It’s OK,” Castro said. “I participated, so that’s the good thing. The good thing is I went up to hit. I know everybody wants to go up to hit. I really enjoyed every moment from today.”
