Frank Castillo obit

Former Cubs pitcher Frank Castillo dies

He was not on the list.

Former Cubs pitcher and minor league coach Frank Castillo died Sunday in Bartlett Lake near Phoenix, his family announced. He was 44.

The 13-year major league veteran drowned while swimming in the lake.

“It was shocking,” said Brian McRae, his former Cubs teammate. “You don’t expect to see your teammates’ name on the bottom scroll of ESPN saying he drowned at 44 years old. Frank was a quiet guy, didn’t say a whole lot. I hung out with him a lot, so I knew him at a different level than some others. He just went about his business and got the most out his ability, spent parts of 13 years in the big leagues and had some success — a good dude and a good teammate.”

Castillo was the third pitcher from the ’97 Cubs to suffer a tragic death. Kevin Foster died after a six-month bout with renal cell carcinoma in 2008, and Geremi Gonzalez was struck by lightning, also in 2008.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum, a teammate of Castillo in the minors, said he was saddened by the news.

“Obviously it was a bad accident at a lake probably close to my house,” Sveum said. “He lived right over the hill to me. Great guy and he was a great teammate when I played with him. It was an unfortunate accident.”

Castillo had a career record of 82-104, with a 4.56 ERA. His biggest moment as a Cub came on Sept. 25, 1995, when he was one pitch away from becoming the first Cub in 23 years to throw a no-hitter. Harry Caray was going wild in the Cubs TV booth, and his former wife, Tracy, was constantly shown in the stands cheering him on.

Castillo had two strikes on Cardinals outfielder Bernard Gilkey with two outs in the ninth of a 7-0 win when Gikley lined a high fastball to right in front of a diving Sammy Sosa to spoil the no-hit bid. The ball rolled past Sosa to the wall for a triple, leaving Castillo with a magnificent one-hit effort that earned several standing ovations from the crowd of about 10,000.

“It was one of those pitches that as soon as I threw it, I wanted it back,” Castillo said. “Sammy made a great effort. He almost made it.”

Mark Grace gave Castillo the ball, saying: “I saw his face on the mound. I almost started to cry. He came so close.”

Castillo’s family released a statement to El Paso TV station KVIA calling Castillo “a wonderful son, terrific brother, and an extraordinary father to his two beautiful girls. Everyone who knew Frank loved Frank. We are devastated by this loss. It is impossible to express in words the level of sadness we feel due to this tragedy. All of those who counted Frank as a personal friend, and to all those wonderful fans who cheered for him during his major league career, we genuinely appreciate your prayers and kind words during this extremely difficult time.”

Castillo played for the Chicago Cubs (1991–1997), Colorado Rockies (1997), Detroit Tigers (1998), Toronto Blue Jays (2000), Boston Red Sox (2001–2002, 2004), and Florida Marlins (2005). 

Some of his notable teammates, managers, coaches and owners were: A. J. Burnett, Josh Beckett, Paul Quantrill, Miguel Cabrera, Juan Pierre, Carlos Delgado, Paul Lo Duca, Álex González, Juan Encarnación, Jack McKeon, Al Leiter, Damion Easley, Jim Frey, Don Zimmer, Greg Maddux, Rick Sutcliffe, Jerome Walton, Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston, Ryne Sandberg, George Bell, Andre Dawson, Damon Berryhill, Heathcliff Slocumb, Luis Salazar, Jim Lefebvre, Sammy Sosa,  Dennis Rasmussen, Doug Dascenzo, Joe Girardi, Billy Williams, Dwight Smith, José Vizcaíno, Mike Morgan, Dan Plesac, Rick Wilkins, Candy Maldonado, Greg Hibbard, Randy Myers, Steve Trachsel, Turk Wendell, Glenallen Hill, Jim Riggleman, Ferguson Jenkins, Luis Gonzalez, Howard Johnson, Jaime Navarro, Dave Magadan, Rodney Myers, Kevin Tapani, Terry Mulholland, Larry Walker, Don Baylor,  Andrés Galarraga, Todd Helton, Ellis Burks, Dante Bichette, Bill Swift, Quinton McCracken, Vinny Castilla, Eric Young, Buddy Bell, Larry Parrish, Tony Clark, Billy Ripken, Gabe Kapler, Bobby Higginson, Todd Jones, Roy Halladay, David Wells, Tony Batista,  Mickey Morandini, Raul Mondesi, Brad Fullmer, Jose Cruz, Jr., Darrin Fletcher, Shannon Stewart, Chris Carpenter, Mark Guthrie, Jim Fregosi, Cito Gaston, Gord Ash, Manny Ramírez, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martínez, Hideo Nomo,  Bret Saberhagen, Rod Beck, David Cone, Jimy Williams, Joe Kerrigan, Trot Nixon, Carl Everett, Brian Daubach, Shea Hillenbrand, Nomar Garciaparra, Tim Wakefield, Derek Lowe, Ugueth Urbina, Grady Little, Johnny Damon, Rey Sánchez, Rickey Henderson, Cliff Floyd, David Ortiz, Orlando Cabrera, Terry Francona, Theo Epstein, Kevin Youkilis, Bronson Arroyo, Byung-hyun Kim and Curt Schilling.