had been some bad blood brewing between these teams for a while. That in no way, shape or form excuses what Castillo did, which is reprehensible. But there was a beanball war going on and Castillo (and the Dayton pitcher, who hit Nate Samson in the first) should have been ejected long before the fight broke out.

But I’d say Castillo has very little future in baseball right now. In fact, he likely doesn’t have much future in this country.

... had some video of this on its front page at 3 am on Friday… if you see this link later in the day, you may have to check through the links for it, there was no direct link to it.

Unfortunately there is precedent (I believe it was an Orioles pitcher) for holding the team liable when a pitcher throws a ball in the stands – intentionally – and it hurts a fan. I’m assuming Castillo has no money, so it’s likely that if the hurt fan sues, he/she will sue the Chiefs and the Cubs.

Has he lost control? Maybe. Heard he’s doing his best Bobby Cox impersonation by getting tossed several times in his year+ in Peo.

If there’s been bad blood between these teams in the past, it’d be interesting to see what the umpires did/said before the game started. Seems perhaps they didn’t start tossing players soon enough. Not that it would have stopped things but if the umps say to the coaches/managers before a pitch is ever thrown (when they’re exchaning line up cards), “keep it clean boys or I’ll toss you immediately”, maybe this would not have happened.

but Castillo has to be done with baseball, at least with the Cubs. There are a number of reasons: he seems like a bad person, he could have killed someone, he’s just a crazy ass. Pick one and release him, and hope MLB bans him. But the Cubs should be out in front.

The crew chief/HP umpire should be suspended for a LOOOONG time as well. No way Castillo should be in the game after 2 bean balls, a retaliation slide, and another up and in pitch. I realize the brou-ha-ha started right after the last up and in, but Castillo should have been snug in the Dayton Days’ Inn by then.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080724-peoria-chiefs-brawl-chicago-cubs,0,1128249.story

You have to release this guy before noon today.

The video makes me sick. I cannot believe this is a Cubs minor league player.

Inexcusable.

with the Chiefs in Chicago this week at Wrigley.

As for DaBard’s comment on keeping him above, the difference is that Christensen made the throw in college while obeying his coach, Castillo’s throw occurred on the Cub’s watch.

If this happened earlier, or has it happened earlie enough to have the Cubs ask another minor league afiliate to play at Wrigley this Tuesday? This is a pretty big black eye for the team, then all of a sudden, they’re playing at the big ballpark? That’s not gonna’ look good…

Moose

I talked to My friend who is an trainer-intern with the team about this today. He wasn’t at the game because it was at Dayton but he did say that he wasn’t surprised. Apparently Castillo’s nickname is “The Animal” and the story (whether or not it’s true, he said he didn’t know) is that the Cubs scouts originally found Castillo throwing rocks at a Coconut tree to get coconuts to fall to the ground.

...as I see a lot of them at his table in the future.

And how blind-with-rage must a pitcher be to miss a dugout with a throw?

I can’t see the video here at work, but I’ll check it out tonight. How bad was the fan’s injury? In any case, I hope he or she bounces back very quickly. What a horrible thing to happen to anyone.

Dave

.. if the Cubs don’t call it off out of shame, I’m certain Ryne will be there with a firm hand there.

But frankly, he set a tone with the suspension earlier this season for the same thing .. and the pugnacity of the players, along with minor league delusions of invulnerability, was primed to blow.

Of course, with advance ticket sales of 30,000, the collective Cubs conscience can be well anesthetized.

Castillo is an animal. He should never be allowed back in a Cubs farm team uni and probably won’t be .. unless he starts pitching like a young Luis Tiant. The Welcome Wagon does run in the Dominican Republic.