View source for Lou Castro

{{short description|Colombian baseball player (1876-1941)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Luis Castro
|image=Luis Castro.jpg
|position=[[Second baseman]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
||birth_date={{Birth date|1876|11|25}}
|birth_place=[[Medellín|Medellín, Antioquia]], Colombia
|death_date={{death date and age|1941|9|24|1876|11|25}}
|death_place=[[New York City]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 23
|debutyear=1902
|debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 27
|finalyear=1902
|finalteam=Philadelphia Athletics
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.245
|stat2label=[[Hit (baseball)|Hits]]
|stat2value=35
|stat3label=[[Run (baseball)|Runs scored]]
|stat3value=18
|teams=
*[[Philadelphia Athletics]] ({{mlby|1902}})
|highlights=
}}

'''Luis Miguel Castro''' (November 25, 1876 – September 24, 1941), nicknamed '''"Jud"''' and '''"Count"''',  was a professional [[baseball]] infielder who was born in [[Medellín]], Colombia. He is considered the first Latin American to play in recognized [[Major League Baseball]]. Castro was a [[second baseman]] who played 42 games with the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] in their [[List of American League pennant winners|pennant-winning]] [[1902 Philadelphia Athletics season|1902 season]].<ref name="mlb">{{cite web | url=https://www.mlb.com/news/luis-castro-was-baseball-s-first-latino-player | title=Remembering Luis Castro, the first Latino in MLB | website=[[MLB.com]] }}</ref>

== Early life ==
Luis Miguel Castro was born to Nestor Castro, a banker, and Inez Agnes Vasquez in [[Medellín]] on November 25, 1876. Castro's father fled the country during a [[Colombian Civil War (1884–1885)|renewed period of civil war]]; that experience was apparently traumatic for the young Castro, who told a Philadelphia reporter in 1902 (during [[Thousand Days' War|another period of civil war]]) that he would "never go back home" because of the political violence. "If they don’t have a rebellion every few months the whole country gets an impatient idea that something has gone wrong. Then they begin a revolution to right it."<ref name="sabr">{{cite web |title=Lou Castro |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/lou-castro/ |publisher=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>

Castro attended [[Manhattan College]], a Catholic school, then located in Harlem. In 1895, at 18, he joined the college's  [[Manhattan College#Athletics|Manhattan Jaspers]] baseball team, playing as a right-handed utility infielder, outfielder, and even as a pitcher; he was named by [[Sporting Life (American newspaper)|Sporting Life]] as one of the top college players on the East Coast by 1898.<ref name="sabr" />

== Career ==
Castro was signed by Philadelphia Athletics manager [[Connie Mack]] while he was playing semi-pro ball in the [[Connecticut League]]. He was a replacement for [[Nap Lajoie]], whose contract with the Athletics had been challenged in court by the cross-town [[Philadelphia Phillies]]; when the [[Pennsylvania Supreme Court]] barred Lajoie from playing for any other team in the state, the future Hall-of-Famer was traded to the [[History of the Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Bronchos]], and Castro was called up as his replacement.<ref name="mlb" />

In his brief 42-game stint with the Athletics, he posted a .245 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], with one [[home run]] and 15 [[runs batted in]], 35 [[hit (baseball)|hits]], 18 [[run (baseball)|runs scored]], 8&nbsp;[[double (baseball)|doubles]], 1 [[triple (baseball)|triple]] and two [[stolen base]]s in 143 [[at bats]]. Castro proved a decent hitter but a poor defender, and played sparingly through the second half of the season. Nevertheless, the Athletics would eventually win the American League pennant, and Castro, well-liked among his teammates, reportedly took it upon himself to act as master of ceremonies at the team's celebratory banquet.<ref name="mlb" />

Castro was released by the Athletics in 1903. He played in the Eastern League (today's [[International League]]), first with the [[Rochester Bronchos]], who later traded him to the [[Baltimore Orioles (minor league)|Baltimore Orioles]]; Castro hit .329 and led the league in triples (23). The next year he signed a $2,000 contract with the [[Portland Browns]] of the [[Pacific Coast League]], briefly acting as team captain. On the West Coast, his foreign ancestry was more apparent, with one California newspaper describing him as walking "like a Mexican." Nevertheless, he was relatively well-liked and well known for his genial demeanor and practical jokes.<ref name="sabr" />

Castro played for various teams in the [[American Association of Professional Baseball|American Association]] and [[Southern Association]], and managed teams in the [[South Atlantic League (1904–1963)|South Atlantic]] and [[Virginia League]]s.<ref name="sabr" />

== Ancestry ==
During his playing career, newspapers variously described Castro as being Colombian, Spanish, Mexicans, Venezuelan, and Cuban.<ref name="mlb" />  Castro himself was vague about his ancestry. In 1902, he claimed to be the nephew of Venezuela's then-president, [[Cipriano Castro]], earning him the sobriquet "The President of Venezuela"; he later denied the relationship in 1909 after President Castro had been deposed.<ref name="sabr" />

Castro applied for U.S. citizenship on July 10, 1917, noting his birthplace as Medellin, Colombia. However, in subsequent documents (a 1922 passport application and the [[1930 US census]]) he listed his birthplace as New York. This has led to confusion about his birthplace. Baseball researcher Gary Ashwill suggests that Castro was not granted citizenship and, fearing reprisal, lied about his American birth from that point on.<ref name="sabr" /> It is also possible that it was to receive economic benefits in his old age, as he did from the Association of Professional Baseball Players of America in 1937. What is clear is that Castro probably wanted to pass for an American citizen by birth.

Several baseball databases such as [[Baseball-Reference.com|Baseball Reference]] and [[Baseball Almanac]] originally reflected his birthplace as New York, but the discovery of the ship's information and passenger list provides a solid and perhaps irrefutable proof about his immigration to America. Despite the fact that he was not the first player who was brought by a team to play in the Major Leagues, Castro is recognized and credited as the first Major League Baseball player ever born in a Latin American country.

== Death and legacy ==
Castro died in New York City at the age of 64. 

He was buried with no tombstone at Mount St. Mary's Cemetery in Flushing, Queens, New York.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Leonte Landino |author2=Juan Vene |title=Las mejores anécdotas del béisbol |publisher=Ediciones B |location=Venezuela |page=212 |edition=1}}</ref> According to the [[Society for American Baseball Research]], Castro is at Division 10, row 9, number 18 in this cemetery.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Landino |first1=Leonte |title=La Prensa del Beisbol Latino |publisher=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref> On July 20, 2021, Queens State Senator [[Jessica Ramos]] unveiled a new tombstone for Castro on Colombian Independence Day at the cemetery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://qns.com/2021/07/queens-senator-honors-first-latino-mlb-player-on-colombian-independence-day/|title=Queens senator honors first Latino MLB player on Colombian Independence Day – QNS.com|first=Julia|last=Moro|date=July 21, 2021|website=qns.com}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of players from Colombia in Major League Baseball]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{baseballstats | br=c/castrlu01 }}
* [https://www.mlb.com/news/luis-castro-was-baseball-s-first-latino-player Remembering Luis Castro, the first Latino in MLB at ''Major League Baseball'']
{{1902 Philadelphia Athletics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Lou}}
[[Category:1876 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Medellín]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball second basemen]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Athletics players]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:Atlanta Crackers players]]
[[Category:Auburn Maroons players]]
[[Category:Augusta Tourists players]]
[[Category:Baltimore Orioles (International League) players]]
[[Category:Birmingham Barons players]]
[[Category:Kansas City Blues (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Manhattan Jaspers baseball players]]
[[Category:Nashville Vols players]]
[[Category:New London Whalers players]]
[[Category:Norwich Witches players]]
[[Category:Portland Browns players]]
[[Category:Portsmouth Pirates players]]
[[Category:Utica Pent-Ups players]]
[[Category:Colombian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Colombia]]
[[Category:Colombian people of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Colombian descent]]
[[Category:Sportspeople of Colombian descent]]