Oriole #838- Juan Castro

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I bet you didn't know that Juan Castro played at least one game in the Major Leagues for 17 consecutive seasons; his career spanning from 1995-2011. Castro was rarely an everyday player and averaged 64 appearances a year for his career, so I really can't feel too bad that I had no idea he had played in the Majors for that long.

Juan was part of the Orioles revolving door at shortstop during the 2008 season, but his 54 games were the most games played at that position out of the five guys the O's had at short over that season. He was always known as a glove-man and never found much success at the plate; he hit just .229 and 36 home runs over his 2,627 big league ABs.

I'm a big fan of Juan's 2009 Topps card as it's both an accurate representation of the O's 2008 season (Sizemore was clearly safe as Juan is about four feet from second base) and a unique shot for a card. Like I said above, Juan was a much better fielder than batter so it makes sense to show him on the field. And I feel like a shot of a middle infielder reaching up to catch a high throw (from first?) isn't something you see everyday.

Juan retired from the Majors in the middle of the 2011 season when the Dodgers designated him for assignment for a second time in under a year. He immediately became a special assistant to the Dodgers' General Manager and it looks like Juan's time around the game is far from over.