Under "normal" circumstances, I would think Ramon Castro would get some well-earned and over-due playing time in his Puerto Rico where his wife and children live. I wonder. And he says (PB Post) that he is happy to be going home. I wonder. Will be interesting to watch (and to try to understand the ramifications of the mistake he made).

(Footnote: Pudge is also Puerto Rican and has family and fans there.)

He was also quoted as saying he hoped to get 1 AB. SO he's not expecting a large amount of PT.

 

Also, Pudge's old lady arrived earlier this week in PR in order to coordinate all the friends/family that will be coming out to that dump of a shoebox stadium.

Since this is a Castro Thread here is an article em....

 

Castro escapes scrutiny

San Juan native returns with Marlins tonight

By JOHN McPHAUL

Special to The Herald

 

VEGA BAJA, Puerto Rico - Ram?n Castro will pull on a major-league uniform in his native Puerto Rico for the first time tonight when the Marlins meet the Montreal Expos in the opener of a three-game series full of playoff intrigue.

 

But that's not the only drama surrounding Castro's homecoming. Tonight's game also marks Castro's first trip back to the island since he was arrested and charged with rape last week in Pittsburgh. The Marlins backup catcher insists he's innocent.

 

And most residents in this small town of about 30,000 agree. Which is why they have rallied behind Castro.

 

''If anything, it gives us all the more reason to show support for him and his family,'' said Pedro Mata, 62, a mechanic. ``They are tremendous people. Nobody here believes [the accusations].''

 

Castro, who has been looking forward to the trip to San Juan since spring training, gave the people of his hometown reason to cheer Thursday, delivering a pinch-hit home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his first at-bat since his arrest.

 

''I'm happy to go home to see my family,'' Castro said. ``I hope they give me an opportunity in my country to have at least one at-bat. When I play, everybody is going to know.''

 

Scores of Vega Baja residents are expected to make the one-hour trek to Hiram Bithorn Stadium for tonight's game, with hundreds more watching on TV. Vega Baja municipality sports director Miguel Mart?nez said he plans to arrange for transportation to the capital once he gets an idea of how many people need rides.

 

Vega Baja -- also the hometown of Marlins catcher Iv?n Rodr?guez -- is a typical rural Puerto Rican town, with the city hall at one end of the small town plaza and a red-tiled-roof church at the other.

 

Rodr?guez, who played in Puerto Rico a couple of years ago when the Texas Rangers opened their season there, is expecting another warm welcome tonight.

 

''It's going to be nice,'' he said. ``I'm looking forward to going there. The sport of Puerto Rico is baseball.''

 

Castro's family lives across town from Rodr?guez's parents in the small working-class neighborhood of La Sabana, which sits in a low-lying flood plain about two miles from the center of town. The neighborhood's modest but sturdy houses, including the one where Castro's parents Ram?n Sr. and Isabel live, sit on cement pylons about 10 feet off the ground to protect them from rising water.

 

Around the corner from the Castro home is the well-manicured baseball diamond where Ram?n Jr. performed many of the feats that earned him the attention of big-league scouts and made him, in 1994, the first high school player from Puerto Rico to be chosen in the first round of the amateur draft.

 

''Here, everybody lives and breathes baseball,'' said Teddy Nieves, 26, Castro's first cousin.

 

But, for the most part, Castro has failed to live up to the promise the Houston Astros saw in him when they made him the seventh pick in the draft nine years ago. He hit above .300 just twice in 10 minor-league stops and has 363 at-bats in parts of five seasons with the Marlins, who acquired him in a 1998 trade that sent right-hander Jay Powell and catcher Scott Makarewicz to Houston.

 

This season, however, Castro is batting .304 in 46 at-bats and leads all Marlins pinch-hitters with eight hits in 22 at-bats, a .364 average.

 

He received a warm ovation from the Pro Player Stadium crowd when he was introduced Thursday.

 

''That made me feel good,'' he said. ``I think people trust me.''

 

Castro can expect another warm welcome tonight, said Nieves, who likens Castro's neighborhood to a large extended family where social ties span generations.

 

''Here, the pain of one person is the pain of everyone,'' he said.

 

Castro still lives with his parents during the offseason, sharing the modest yellow house with his wife Brenda and their three young daughters.

 

''He's a kid who shares. He comes and plays dominoes with us. He's the same person we've always known,'' said 58-year-old neighbor Wilfredo Ortiz.

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sport...all/6695876.htm

He was also quoted as saying he hoped to get 1 AB. SO he's not expecting a large amount of PT.

 

Also, Pudge's old lady arrived earlier this week in PR in order to coordinate all the friends/family that will be coming out to that dump of a shoebox stadium.

Why is the stadium a shoebox?

its itty bitty and pretty shiitty

He was also quoted as saying he hoped to get 1 AB. SO he's not expecting a large amount of PT.

 

Also, Pudge's old lady arrived earlier this week in PR in order to coordinate all the friends/family that will be coming out to that dump of a shoebox stadium.

Why is the stadium a shoebox? you'll see tonight.

 

It's freakin ridiculous.

 

 

REGULAR fly balls are HR's in PR.

http://www.ebaseballparks.com/bithorn.html

 

 

314 down the lines, 350 to power alleys and is 400 straight away. :whistle

 

 

Oh, and I seen this ballpark in person and it's not a dump....it's just small.

This may be impossible but Castro will get one or two at bats and hit 2 or 3 homers.

This is a dump!

Castro should be starting one of these games not only it's his hometown but he has been hitting very good and hasnt started in a long time