Banter From The Bench: Vinny Castilla shares details on setting franchise records for the Colorado Rockies

Few who have played for the Colorado Rockies are as beloved as Vinny Castilla.

His time in purple dates all the way back to the Expansion Draft in November 1992 before the team had even played its first game and includes two seasons at Mile High Stadium, the club’s first postseason appearance in 1995 and a place among baseball’s elite as part of the Blake Street Bombers.

He was the last active member of the inaugural Rockies when he retired following his ninth season with the club in 2006, and his 239 home runs with Colorado is third-most in franchise history behind only Todd Helton and Hall of Famer Larry Walker. Only Neifi Pérez can lay claim to playing all 162 games in a season for the club.

ICYMI, Vinny Castilla was voted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame! http://t.co/h3mvlUt7y0

CONGRATS Vinny! pic.twitter.com/p0j9PstgtG

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) October 16, 2015

If there were a Rockies Hall of Fame – can anyone explain why there isn’t one yet? – he most assuredly would be in it. He’s already been enshrined in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2016) and the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame (Class of 2017).

In total, Castilla slugged 320 home runs, way more than any Mexican-born player. It’s why he was elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020 and, due to a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, inducted with a ceremony at the museum’s home in Monterrey, MX last month. 

Congrats to Vinny Castilla for being inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame!👏 pic.twitter.com/9OlV8Gsers

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) November 15, 2022

Castilla currently serves as a Special Assistant to the General Manager, something he was hired to do a season after retiring 16 years ago. As such, he is often seen around the ballpark providing wisdom to the 26-man roster and chatting with media members about the greatest ever moonshots hit at Coors Field, the Bombers and how the game has evolved in the 30 years since his Major League debut. 

Vinny Castilla: Okay. So what are we talking about?

Patrick Lyons: We’re talking about you. That’s a good topic, yeah? 

Castilla: Oh, that’s a good topic. 

Lyons: I think so. So if you remember, Whit Merrifield played in his 500th consecutive game when the Royals came to Colorado this season. I asked around, “Who’s got the Rockies record?” And I found out. Do you know who holds the record for most consecutive games played in franchise history?

Castilla: Me. 

Lyons: You’d be correct. 

Castilla: How many?

Lyons: Three-hundred seven. From June of 1997 to June of 1999.

Castilla: That’s a pretty good number.

Lyons: Agreed, and it’s by a decent amount. Fifth-most consecutive game is Dante (Bichette), and his lasted less than a full season at 152 straight games. Do you remember having a streak like that at one point in your career?

Castilla: I remember it because I played 162 for almost two years in a row, I think. I loved to play. I mean, I had some minor aches and pains here and there, but I was able to go on the field and play.

https://twitter.com/ATTSportsNetRM/status/1281041708592087041

Lyons: Do you think if your coaching staff would have said, ‘Actually, take the day off and rest,’ that it would have gotten something more out of you or no?

Castilla: I don’t know. If I wasn’t good enough to play and help the team, then I probably wouldn’t play. But I felt well enough to play and I did it.

Lyons: Did you have a top notch training regimen, kind of like what we see with Charlie (Blackmon)? Regardless of how great of shape you’re in, you have to take days off at altitude, right?

Castilla: I mean, there wasn’t exactly. I would sleep good, go out there and have fun and play baseball. I love to play baseball, like I said. The manager asked me if I need a day off and I’d say no.

Lyons: During your day, it was different. Obviously, there was Cal Ripken Jr. and it was a source of pride, whereas now guys don’t play every day, but I think it’s because they need the rest. It’s important. What are your thoughts on that kind of change in mindset and approach over the last decade or so?

Castilla: I think it’s important. No doubt. Like I said, with me, if I was feeling good enough to play, I’d play. Baseball has changed. You need to take your rest when you think you need it. I mean, I probably needed it, but I didn’t want to take it at that time and probably, like you said, could have played better if I got that rest. I don’t know.

Gerardo Parra bought custom Nike tennis shoes for the entire @Rockies coaching staff. Here’s a look at Vinny Castilla’s. Nickname: El Criminal because “he used to kill pitchers for fun.” pic.twitter.com/iXsO7Jq33o

— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) June 9, 2018

Lyons: Would you have been fine with taking a day off the field and serving as the DH? Would that have been good to have back then in the National League?

Castilla: I think I played a couple games at DH when we played interleague games. But I didn’t like it. I liked to be more involved in the game and at DH, I don’t know how to keep myself moving. I’d just wait in the dugout and wait for my at-bat, go hit in the tunnel and take some swings. I didn’t like it. And I think you have to have a guy that really knows how to do that like Big Papi or Edgar Martinez, those guys. They’re so good at that. You have to have a routine. And because I played every day, I don’t know what the routine is for a DH, you know? So that’s why I didn’t like it.

Lyons: I was looking at some other team records, like for hitting streaks. Brendan Rodgers had a 20-game hit streak this year. Not a lot of guys have gone 20 games in Rockies history. You actually have the franchise record for the longest hitting streak on the road, for 21 consecutive games away from Coors Field. Do you remember being particularly good at hitting on the road? Because there’s a challenge as we know with seeing pitch here at altitude then going down to sea level. 

Castilla: To be honest with you, I was a player. I don’t even know a difference between home and road. The more that you hear about, the more you start thinking about it. You know at altitude, the ball will travel more, but I tried not to put too much attention to that. It’s not a secret. Some people started making too much of a deal about it. That’s when I started thinking about it and it got in my head a little more. But before, it was the same for me. Getting a base hit here and a base hit on the road was the same, especially when I was younger. So, that’s true. When you start paying more attention to that, yes. It’s true the ball breaks more on the road. For me, it took like one day, maybe two days to get adjusted and then the second game, third game, I get the breaking ball. That happens especially after you play in a long homestand.

Lyons: Ignorance is bliss.

Castilla: (Ha ha.) Yeah, that’s true! In that aspect, before everybody started making a big deal of altitude. Even after that, I know I tried not to pay too much attention to that. So I didn’t want to put too much in my head about it. I played in Mexico City, too. Mexico City is higher, man. Higher than (Denver). And they don’t make as big of a deal there when we played on the road. So when I came here, I heard it, but I tried not to focus on that. I focused on having a good at bat, playing hard, and focusing on the pitcher and what he has, what’s his best pitch, how he’s gonna attack me. Then I put that secondary, the altitude stuff. That was me. Different guys are different.

Lyons: All right. Dream scenario. The designated hitter is implemented in the National League during the ‘90s. If you got to pick any player to add to the Blake Street Bombers, who would you have added?

Castilla: When he was in his prime, I’d probably get Jose Canseco. Or Big Papi. Those Guys could hit. And they know how to DH too.

(Top photo credit: Salón de la Fama del Béisbol)