Luis Castro
From BR Bullpen
Luis Manuel Castro (Jud)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 7"
- School Manhattan College
- Debut April 23, 1902
- Final Game September 27, 1902
- Born 1876 in Medellin, Colombia
- Died September 24, 1941 in New York, NY USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Luis Castro played for the 1902 Philadelphia Athletics. The following year he hit .328 for the minor-league Baltimore Orioles, as a teammate of Hughie Jennings and Wilbert Robinson.
He was long considered the first major leaguer to be born in Colombia, as well as South America. His debut came 37 years before Alex Carrasquel became the second South American player. It is clear that Castro's family came from Colombia, but the question was whether Luis himself was born there, or in New York, NY where his family emigrated. In later years, he listed his place of birth as New York, but this may have been part of an attempt to present himself as a born American, at a time when anti-immigrant feelings were high. A recently-uncovered passenger manifest shows a person whose biographical and family data matches what is known about Castro landing in New York City in the early 1880's, from Colombia.
Castro is listed as having been at Manhattan College between 1892-1901, and came to the majors in 1902, playing for the Philadelphia Athletics. He was Danny Murphy's backup at second base in 1902.
One source says that Castro had a long minor league career after 1902 under the nickname "Count". [citation needed] He also managed in the minors in 1909 and 1912.
Sporting Life typically referred to him as Louis Castro. It reported in 1903 that he was a nephew of Venezuela's president Cipriano Castro.
Luis was the earliest major leaguer by far with the last name Castro. The next was Bill Castro, who came up in 1974. From 2000-September 2011, there have been seven other major leaguers with the last name Castro who have played.
