Latest news with #andWild
New York Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Weird & Wild: The 24-2 Game, Brewers steal the show and an MLB-MiLB Johnny Vander Meer
So you thought the Weird and Wild sport of baseball was going to calm down one of these weeks, huh? Sorry. Not this week! A team stole nine bases … before it made its 10th out. … A pitcher summoned his inner Johnny Vander Meer and spun off back-to-back hitless starts … in two different leagues. … And another pitcher lost a no-hit bid … on a ball that left the bat two innings earlier. Advertisement But none of that was even close to being the Weirdest or Wildest stuff we saw this week. So let's tell you all about it, beginning with … Once upon a time, in a baseball galaxy far far away, there was a pitcher named Wes Littleton. Did you know he's a legend — or at least a certified Weird and Wild cult hero? I could make you guess why. Or I could just show you this: Yep. There it is. Just a fun little line score from Aug. 20, 2007 — from that time Wes Littleton got credit for a save for the Rangers … in a 30-3 game. It's 18 years later now. So I'm hereby adding that save to the list of Records That Won't Ever Be Broken. And why would I be doing that this week? Because we just had Another One of Those Games that bring Wes Littleton back to life. We love it when that happens. This one came along Sunday in Baltimore: Randy Wynne. He had himself a huge day for the Reds. He went from an emergency call-up to That Guy Who Saved a 24-2 Game. What a cool day at the yard that was, huh? But still, he was no Wes Littleton. I'll tell you lots more about Wynne — and about that 24-2 game — in a moment. But any time a guy makes a run at Wes Littleton and comes up short, we should all think about big Wes and smile. BIGGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY IN A SAVE (Since 1969) (*in the same ballpark — Camden Yards) Get the picture? It's 18 years later, and nobody has even gotten close to big Wes on that blowout-save leaderboard. So clearly, he holds one of the most unbreakable records ever set — and nobody even appreciated his role in history as it was unfolding. His teammate, Michael Young, remembers it well. And by 'remembers it,' we mean he pretty much remembers nothing about it. WEIRD AND WILD: 'When Wes got a save in that game, did you feel like you were witnessing history?' Advertisement YOUNG: 'No, I had no idea. Like, honestly, I didn't even know he got a save.' W&W: 'So do you feel now like you were deprived of the chance to have goosebumps over a 30-3 save?' YOUNG: 'I do. That's exactly right. And in 2007, I could have used all the goosebumps I could have gotten.' W&W: 'So nobody even knew back then that he had just set the most unbreakable record of all time?' YOUNG: 'No, there's no way anybody knew about that. Even him.' Sadly, I came up short in my quest to track down Littleton for this column. But I did come across photographic evidence that suggests he's proud of that record now. It's right there on his Instagram page: A photo of the scoreboard. And the score in that photo is … 30-3. So what has to happen for a pitcher to get a save in a dramatic game like that one — or 24-2? Well, he has to finish off a win … and go at least three innings … and 'pitch effectively.' Oh, and his teammates have to run around the bases many, many, many times. Well, Randy Wynn's Reds teammates definitely held up their end Sunday. So now that we've paid our respects to the most unbreakable record in history, let's move along to … We're only four weeks into this baseball season. But I feel like we've reached new April heights for most games in one month that America has decided are a 'Weird and Wild' kind of game. Well, America, I'm here for you at times like this. So here comes Everything you Need to Know About Reds 24, Orioles 2 (even if you didn't know you did). 24-2? Really? I was hoping we had ourselves a Scorigami — but not just the first 24-2 game in baseball history. I was rooting for the first 24-2 game in the history of any of the four major North American men's professional sports. Except … Nope! Through the miracle of Baseball Reference/Stathead, I learned we've actually had four previous 24-2 games in the modern era — although only two of them have happened since 1912. Advertisement But even weirder (and wilder), I also found two 24-2 games in NFL history! Anybody remember Steelers 24, Chargers 2 in Week 14, 1972? I'd guess no — unless you were that Chargers lineman who sacked Terry Bradshaw in the end zone that day. The bottom feeders — Elly De La Cruz is our idea of a superstar, right? He batted third in this game for the Reds — and drove in one run. But whatever! The Reds got 11 hits and 13 RBIs from the two dudes who batted eighth and ninth, Noelvi Marte and Austin Wynns. Add in the No. 7 hole (shared by Jake Fraley and Blake Dunn) — and that comes to 13 hits and 17 RBIs — from the 7-8-9 hitters! Want to guess how many teams have ever spewed 17 RBIs in one game out of the bottom third of the order? As always, feel free to guess zero! Austin's Powers — Johnny Bench used to catch for the Reds. Maybe you've heard of him. You know what he never did? Get six hits in one game. But you know who just caught for the Reds and did get six hits in one game? Austin Wynns, because of course he did. So what's so Weird and Wild about that? • He's a catcher! And as loyal reader/friend of the column Eric Orns reports, Wynns is just the second catcher to get six hits in a game since 1949. The other: Paul Lo Duca, on May 28, 2001. • He was the No. 9 hitter! And how many No. 9 hitters in the modern era have ever gotten six hits in a game? That would be one: Austin Wynns! It was the only spot on the lineup card that had never had a six-hit game … until Sunday. (Hat tip: Eric Orns.) • He hasn't exactly been Luis Arraez! To find Wynns' previous six hits, you'd have to comb through the box scores all the way back to last July 11. Only one man has ever had a six-hit game after entering it with a lower career batting average than Wynns (.231) — the unforgettable Mike Benjamin, at .207. (Another hat tip to Orns.) Advertisement Scoring position — Is it OK to mention one more tidbit about Wynns' big day? He was awesome and all that. But he also got his fifth and sixth hits with position players on the mound! He singled in the eighth inning off an infielder, Jorge Mateo. That was hit No. 5. Then came a homer in the ninth off a catcher, Gary Sánchez. That was hit No. 6. So who else has ever gotten his fifth and sixth hits in a game off position players? According to the amazing Kenny Jackelen of Baseball Reference, that could only be … nobody. And who else has even gotten two hits off position players in a five-hit game? Well, there was the guy hitting in front of Wynns (Marte). But Yoán Moncada also did it on June 15, 2022. Compromising position — Speaking of Mateo and Sánchez, they might not have reminded the population of Baltimore of Zack Britton and Tippy Martinez with their late-inning relief prowess … seeing as how they gave up nine runs (in two innings). Before the Reds ran into those two guys, only two teams had ever scored nine runs (or more) against position-player 'pitchers' in the same game: The Blue Jays put up 10 against the Rays' Luke Raley and Christian Bethancourt on May 23, 2023. And the Mets scored nine against the Phillies' dynamic duo of Roman Quinn and Scott Kingery on Aug. 16, 2018. Traffic jam — Then again, the Orioles didn't just need more pitchers in this game. They needed more traffic cops — because it was hard to tell where you found the most traffic that day, on the Beltway or when the Reds were running the bases. Ever heard of a game in which a team got 25 hits … and 11 walks … and two hit batters? No, you have not! As Orns reports, the Reds were the first team to ever do that. Even if you ignore the hit-by-pitch part, they were the first team with that many hits and that many walks … in 75 years … since the Red Sox put up 28 hits and 11 walks on June 8, 1950. Advertisement So that enabled the Reds to tie the weirdest record of the day: Leaving an incredible 13 runners on base in a game in which they scored 24 runs. The only other team to do that was … also the Reds, in a ridiculous 24-12 game at Coors Field in 1999. Five more Weird/Wild blockbusters — This game was so wild that we're still not done! Did you know … • All five guys who pitched for the Orioles finished the game with an ERA over 10.00! The previous latest point in a season that had ever happened, according to Orns, was the fourth game of the season, which was when the 2016 Rockies pulled it off. • TJ Friedl batted eight times — in a nine-inning game! The only two other hitters who did that in a game in the 21st century? Frank Catalanotto and Ian Kinsler, for Texas, in (you guessed it) … the Wes Littleton Game! • The Reds won a road game by 22 runs! And how rare is that? As Cincinnati TV sports anchor Charlie Clifford reported, they hadn't even scored 20 on the road since a 1999 20-1 game in Philadelphia against a Phillies team managed by … some guy named Terry Francona! • Remember when the Reds used to play 1-0 games every day? That was just a couple of weeks ago. So according to my favorite Reds nugget finder, Joel Luckhaupt, to locate the last time a team won a game by at least 20 runs and lost multiple 1-0 games in a span of 25 games, you'd have to go back 70 years! Walt Dropo's 1955 White Sox were the last team to pull that off. • Name the score! Finally, how can you not love a game in which the Reds got 10 hits from guys named Austin (Wynns and Hays)? I asked the official Name Game czar of Weird and Wild, David Firstman, to check that out. And the most hits he could find by two teammates with the same name was eight, by the Brandons (Crawford and Belt), for the Giants on Aug. 8, 2016. Advertisement But that wasn't even the Weird and Wild Name Game highlight of the day. What catcher was Randy Wynne pitching to when he recorded the save that started this column? It was Austin Wynns. Which means … It was a Wynne-Wynns situation! GO DEEPER C. Notes: Reds run wild in record-setting Sunday that has numbers galore JUDGEMENT DAY — Aaron Judge in 2024: Whomped 58 home runs. Aaron Judge in 2025 (so far): Rocking a batting average of … .415! So how often does a guy who led his league in home runs one year blitz through April the next year hitting .400? OK, so April isn't over yet, but just in case. … The last defending home run champ to do that: Eddie Murray (.441) in 1982. (Murray tied for the American League lead in homers in '81.) But who was the last man to lead the major leagues in home runs one year and hit .400 the next April (with at least 60 plate appearances). That would be some nobody named … Lou Gehrig (.412), in 1932. (Gehrig tied this dude, George H. Ruth, for the lead in 1931.) SPIDER MAN 2-0 — Patrick Corbin's won-lost record from 2020-24: a scary 33-70! Patrick Corbin's record this season in Texas (since summoning all his superpowers to pitch despite a mysterious spider bite): a stunning 2-0! So does great spider power create great won-lost responsibility? You decide. You would have to go back five years to find the last time Corbin's won-lost record was two games over. 500. He was 2-0 after three starts in 2020, quickly headed south and never had a winning record at any point over his next 132 starts for the Nationals. Until this man met that spider. And the rest is history. '10's' ARE WILD (AND ALSO WEIRD) — Feel free to read our Weird and Wild bonus edition on how the Cubs gave up 10 runs in an inning last Friday and still won. But here's the weirdest, wildest epilog to that story: Four days later, they won an improbable 11-10 game with the Dodgers. And here at Weird and Wild World HQ, we wonder about stuff like that. Advertisement How many teams in the modern era have ever had a week like the Cubs — winning one game in which they gave up 10 runs in an inning and another game in which they allowed 10 in a game? I spent way too much of my theoretically useful life on this. But I could find only two! One was Babe Ruth's 1933 Yankees: Won a 17-11 game against the A's on June 3 despite allowing 11 runs in the third inning. … And that came a week after a game in which they served up 11 runs to the White Sox — but won anyway by scoring 12 in the eighth. The other team to do this? That would be Beals Becker's 1912 New York Giants. On June 20, they went into the ninth inning with a 21-2 lead … and gave up 10 in the ninth to Doc Miller's Boston Braves. … And then, two days later, in the same series, they won a madcap 14-12 game against the Braves. But that's it … until these Cubs came along … many decades later! JOC JAMS — Your attention, please: Joc Pederson got a hit! He was (somehow) 0-for-his-last-41 before his pinch hit Wednesday, for the Rangers in Sacramento. And that got me thinking, which is always dangerous. Here's just a sampling of sweet-swinging pitchers who never went 0-for-41: Randy Johnson Roy Halladay Tim Lincecum CC Sabathia Greg Maddux Tom Glavine John Smoltz I could go on, but just remind yourself: What's Joc's primary job again? Oh, that's right. He's a DH … so the pitchers don't have to hit! HOW BOUT THIS SIX-PACK — Like any newcomer to Philadelphia, Jordan Romano never set out to get the Boos Choir of Philly all riled up. But he just can't help himself. So the bad news last Saturday was, he came on in the ninth inning and gave up six runs to the Marlins. The good news was, the Phillies won anyway, 11-10. And how often do you see that — a former All-Star reliever giving up six in the ninth but his team still won the game? Not much! Advertisement Baseball Reference's Kenny Jackelen found only three other All-Star relievers who have done this in the division-play era (now in its 57th season): • Keith Foulke — for the White Sox on June 25, 2000 • Shigetoshi Hasegawa — for the Blue Jays on April 18, 2000 • Jim Clancy — for the Astros on July 20, 1990 So don't try this at home … especially if that home is in South Philadelphia! PLEASE WASH YOUR SOX — I've been trying not to pick on the White Sox in this column this year. But this just in: They finally wore me down. Do you ever look at their box scores? All these names appeared in Tuesday's edition, with their season batting averages listed alongside: Nick Maton — .167 Luis Robert Jr. — .151 Andrew Vaughn — .145 Michael A. Taylor — .149 Jacob Amaya — .089 Joshua Palacios — .182 (Not pictured: Miguel Vargas — .157) It was 23 games into their season. What the heck! I couldn't remember a team with this many guys who were still gurgling beneath the Mendoza Line this late in a season. I asked Baseball Reference's brilliant researcher Katie Sharp if I was onto something. Of course I was! Only one other team in the last 50 years had this many players 'hitting' under .200 this deep into a season. If you use a cutoff of at least 45 plate appearances, the White Sox had six of them. The only other team Katie found was the 2024 Diamondbacks — who had seven of them. She found three other teams in the live-ball era — the '74 Orioles, '72 Brewers and '60 Tigers — and two more in the dead-ball era (1909 White Sox and Washington Nationals). But here I thought the dead-ball era was over. Um, not on the South Side of Chicago, it isn't. CRIME DOES PAY — The Milwaukee Brewers in 2020: Stole six bases … in their last 33 games combined. The Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday against the A's: Stole six bases … in the first inning. The @Brewers successfully pulled off two double steals in the 1st inning. They had a franchise-record SIX stolen bases in the frame 🤯 — MLB (@MLB) April 20, 2025 Hey, let's keep going. Those 2020 Brewers: Stole nine bases … in the whole month of August, a month when they sent 1,024 hitters to home plate. The Brewers on Sunday: Stole nine bases … just in the first four innings, before they'd even sent their 20th hitter to home plate. I don't know about you. But I never get tired of seeing all the ways teams try to win in the ever-changing sport of … Baseball! Advertisement This all happened, in real life, since the last edition of this column. No kidding. • Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase spun off a 1-2-3 save against the Pirates last Saturday despite giving up a triple. … Um, how'd that happen? … Because Enmanuel Valdez ruined the Emmanuel vs. Enmanuel portion of this note … when he tried to call timeout after his triple … by lifting his hand off the bag to ask for time … and getting tagged out! Wow. Valdez called OUT on this after sliding into third with an apparent triple and not getting a timeout. Never seen this one. — Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) April 19, 2025 • I watched Sandy Alcantara make a start last Friday in Philly in which he threw 30 pitches in the first inning … and then 37 more in the second! The only Cy Young Award winner in the previous five seasons to kick off a start with two straight innings of 30-plus pitches: Blake Snell (of course) … who did it in two starts in a row on Sept. 23 and 29, 2019. (Hat tip: STATS Perform.) • Thanks to the magic of official scoring, Max Fried lost a no-hit bid in the eighth inning Sunday … on a ball that left the bat two innings earlier! Do I really need to explain this any further? I don't think so. • And how about the Diamondbacks' first two batters, in their April 17 game in Miami, starting the game by going: strikeout … sacrifice fly. Wait, what? True! Corbin Carroll whiffed but reached first on a wild pitch. You know the rest. Steal of second. Steal of third. Geraldo Perdomo sac fly. Baseball! (Hat tip: Eric Orns.) RALLY FEVER — As loyal reader Stephen Tolbert tweeted at us last Saturday, it isn't every weekend when you see teams put up a 10-run inning and an eight-run inning on back-to-back days. But it isn't any weekend when two teams do that … and they both lose. In this week's Weird and Wild special, I devoted many words to describing how the Diamondbacks managed to do that last Friday at Wrigley. Then came Saturday, when the Washington Nationals rolled into the bottom of the seventh at Coors Field with a 12-2 lead … and gave up eight to the Rockies … but still won, 12-11, because baseball is so frigging weird (and also wild). Advertisement FINNEGAN'S BOWL-A-RAMA — OK, so last Saturday was a day when the Nationals turned a 12-2 game into a 12-11 game. But that was a good thing — at least for the Strange But True portion of this column. And that's because they had to wave in their closer, Kyle Finnegan, from the bullpen to pitch the ninth in that game. And as the radio voice of the Nationals, Dave Jageler, alerted me excitedly, Finnegan entered that inning with 299 career appearances, 299 innings pitched and 299 strikeouts. So … guess what happened next. One inning … one strikeout … one career pitching line Mookie Betts would be totally jealous of. It's official!! Kyle Finnegan's baseball reference page. He bowled a 900 series. 300 games pitched. 300 innings pitched. 300 strikeouts. Gotta love baseball. — Dave Jageler (@DaveJageler) April 21, 2025 IT'S A WALK-OFF UH-WHAT-WAS-THAT — Here's a game-ending play you don't see a whole lot. Take a look at how this April 10 Red Sox-Blue Jays game was won. See if you catch this. Trevor Story walks it off for the Red Sox! — Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 10, 2025 It's the old walk-off 4-3 out? What? FanGraphs' David Laurila inspired me to ask Katie Sharp if that's as Strange But True as we thought it was. Yup! It has happened only two other times in the last 50 years. • Padres over Dodgers on May 21, 1997 — Wilton Guerrero throws out Quilvio Veras at first just for the heck of it. • Pirates over Cubs on June 5, 1990 — Ryne Sandberg throws out R.J. Reynolds just for fun. Crazy! FIRST TO LAST — Here's another bizarre game for you, from last Saturday. The Diamondbacks scored two runs in a 6-2 loss to the Cubs — the first on a leadoff solo homer (by Corbin Carroll), the second on another solo homer with two outs in the ninth (Tim Tawa). In between, they just hung a bunch of zeroes. And yes, you don't see that much! (Hat tip: Jesse Rogers.) Advertisement But just how much? Katie Sharp dug up only three other modern-era games in the Baseball Reference database with that same, hard-to-replicate script: • A 15-2 Phillies loss to the Cubs on July 22, 2022, with Kyle Schwarber and Darick Hall providing the bookend homers. • An incredible 2-1 A's win over the Red Sox on Aug. 22, 1971 — featuring a Bert Campaneris leadoff shot and a Reggie Jackson walk-off inside-the-park homer! • And a 5-2 win for the Mets, over the Giants, on Aug. 8, 1962. Those two Giants homers: from Harvey Kuenn and Orlando Cepeda. Hey, did we just drop the names of Corbin Carroll, Reggie Jackson and Orlando Cepeda in the same note? We did. You're welcome! PAGING JOHNNY VAN DER MEER — And now one last thing. This might have been the greatest pitching feat of the whole darned season … and it feels as if nobody even noticed … except the Weird and Wild column. Check out the last two starts by humongous Rays pitching phenom Joe Boyle. April 13 — makes a last-minute fill-in start in the big leagues against the Braves: 5 IP, 0 hits April 19 — heads back to Triple-A Durham, faces the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: 6 IP, 0 hits So if you're scoring at home (and hopefully, that never occurred to you), you've just seen two consecutive starts allowing zero hits. Which seems good. It's now 87 years since Johnny Vander Meer did that thing he is most famous for — by throwing back-to-back no-hitters, against the Braves and Dodgers. And granted, I'm pretty sure Joe Boyle isn't going to be quite that legendary for what he's done. But think about it. Who the heck has ever had a major-league/minor-league Vander Meer? All right, so you can call it a quasi-Vander Meer if you'd like, since Boyle didn't go nine innings in either start. But still, here's the question I asked Boyle's manager with the Durham Bulls, Morgan Ensberg: WEIRD AND WILD: 'So he's thrown a no-hitter in the major leagues and a no-hitter in Triple A. What league should he pitch in next?' Advertisement ENSBERG: 'That's a really good point. He should go back to the big leagues and try to continue to repeat this whole not-letting-guys-get-a-hit thing, because it's very effective.' Very! So remember that, kids. If you can just go out there and never give up a hit, no matter what league you're in, I predict a bright future for you in the beautiful sport of … Baseball! (Top photo of the scoreboard from the 24-2 game: Nick Wass / Associated Press)
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Weird & Wild: Mariners double down on Luis Castillo(s) in back-to-back starts
Editor's note: This is a bonus Weird and Wild column. To read more Weird and Wild from the past week, go here and here. If you know your rock 'n' roll history, you know there was a famous 1960s doo-wop song called 'Louie Louie.' You're about to hear all about it. I don't know how to explain this, but according to the authentic-sounding website that tune has been covered by other bands more than 5,000 times. For some reason! Advertisement So obviously, if you're a cover band, you can never go wrong building your set list around 'Louie Louie.' And if you're a baseball team — let's just say a team like, oh, the Seattle Mariners — you obviously can never go wrong building your pitching staff around Louie … and … (yes) Louie. Or make that Luis … and … Luis. If you're a Mariners aficionado, you know that we're not making this up — because … Starting for the Mariners on Tuesday was … Luis Castillo. And starting for the Mariners on Wednesday was … Luis Castillo. And not even for the first time. In back-to-back games last week, the Mariners also started … Luis Castillo and Luis Castillo. These are not the same people. But they have the same name. And here's some advice to the other 29 teams out there: If you want to achieve massive publicity via a mention in this column, you too should be collecting multiple players with the same name, because here at Weird and Wild World HQ, we enjoy that sort of thing. For some reason! Luis Castillo of the Mariners vs. Luis Castillo of the Mariners (Mechanics) — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2025 Now back to our story. The 'original' Luis Castillo is 'The Rock' (aka 'La Piedra'). He's been performing ace-like tricks for the last nine seasons, first in Cincinnati and then Seattle. And we'd practically say he needs no introduction … except that two weeks ago, the Mariners called up their 'other' Luis Castillo. You might know that guy as Luis F. Castillo — or, as he was nicknamed this spring, 'The Pebble' (aka El Guijarro). The Mariners signed him to a minor-league free-agent deal over the winter. And if you don't think the Weird and Wild column was waiting breathlessly for the Mariners to call him up and go with the full Luis Castillo pitching experience, you haven't read us much. Advertisement So what do you need to know? Here goes. Has this ever happened before? Oh, yeah. But only once. And it's still awesome. According to Mariners notes genius Alex Mayer, this is only the second set of 'name twins' in history to start back-to-back games for the same team. The other was Bobby Jones and his good friend, Bobby Jones, who did that for the Mets on July 3-4, 2000 — but also did it again for the Padres on Aug. 10-11, 2002. And all the proof you need that the universe was all in on that was that the first hitter each of them faced as a Met was … (that other) Luis Castillo, the Marlins second baseman! (Hat tip: Jessica Brand) But that's not the only Weird and Wild thing those two Bobby Joneses did. They also appeared in the two greatest transactions in baseball history, back in July 2000. They both looked like this: NEW YORK METS — Sent pitcher Bobby Jones to Norfolk. Recalled pitcher Bobby Jones from Norfolk. So how'd that go? Well, on one level … uh, not ideally. The Mets and Padres went 0-4 in those games they started. But then there's that other level — the all-important Transactions of the Century level. And on that level … those 2000 Mets were so far ahead of their time. They astutely realized they had two different pitchers named Bobby Jones. So what did they do when they needed to make a move? They just called up one Bobby Jones and sent down the other — twice! That left me no choice back then but to check in with Mets media-relations legend Jay Horwitz after the Mets had called up Bobby Jones the first time, while also sending down (yup) Bobby Jones. 'I told (team equipment man) Charlie Samuels: 'Hey, you'll have to change the hotel reservation,'' Horwitz reported. 'He said, 'No, I don't. It's just Bobby Jones for Bobby Jones. I don't have to change a thing.'' Advertisement Were there any other same-name pitching teammates? Just to make sure, I ran that question past the official name-game guru of the Weird and Wild column, David Benjamin Firstman, author of the great book, 'The Hall of Name.' Here's his complete list: • 1962 Mets — cornered the market on Bob Millers (with two of them). • 2020 Marlins — had two pitchers named Josh Smith, and even pitched them in the same game twice! Back when the Mets were collecting Bobby Joneses, I actually tracked down one of those Bob Millers from the '62 Mets, because of course I did. Just wondered if he had any advice for the two Bobby Joneses. He did! Miller said that he and his namesake added to the fun by becoming … wait for it … roommates. 'We had to,' Miller said, 'because when the calls came to the hotel, they'd ask for Bob Miller. 'Which one?' 'The player with the Mets.' 'Which one?' 'The pitcher.' 'Which one?' So to end the confusion, we just roomed together.' So is NameBall the next great team-building strategy? It should be! Looking for an innovative new wrinkle in roster construction that no other team has thought of? What better way to confuse the opposing hitters by having them ask: Who's pitching tonight? And the answer is always: Luis Castillo! That was my theory, anyway. But to confirm it, I checked with Mariners general manager Justin Hollander. THE ATHLETIC: 'So when you were thinking about signing Luis Castillo, didn't anybody say: 'Wait. We already have Luis Castillo?'' HOLLANDER: 'It was brought up that we already have a Luis Castillo. But we also took another Julio Rodríguez into the organization this winter. So we are duplicating names left and right.' TA: 'What's the most confusing thing that's happened so far because you have two Luis Castillos?' HOLLANDER: 'Well, when they posted the throwing schedule in spring training, you had to double-take to make sure you knew which one was throwing in the game that day.' Advertisement TA: 'I counted two more Luis Castillos who are pitching in the minor leagues or the independent leagues. Do you have any interest in acquiring them?' HOLLANDER: 'I don't think so. We feel like, when we're looking for players, talent definitely is the first thing we look for — and then naming conventions after that.' TA: 'So is that why you signed the other Julio Rodríguez (Julio E. Rodriguez)?' HOLLANDER: 'No, we actually wanted catching depth. That seemed like a good thing to have.' TA: 'I also noticed there's a minor leaguer named Ichiro Cano. How can you not sign that guy?' HOLLANDER: 'Yeah, that one has been floated out there for a while for us. We've resisted that temptation. But he was clearly destined to be a Mariner at some point.' TA: 'How much have you checked around to see if there are any other George Kirbys or Brian Woos out there?' HOLLANDER: 'We have not looked into that. But we will. I'll put our guys on that today.' TA: 'All right. One more thing. What is your ultimate dream for the ultimate Luis Castillos moment, where we have pure Luis Castillo-mania some night? What about: Luis Castillo throws eight hitless innings. Then Luis Castillo finishes the game. And we have a Luis Castillos no-hitter?' HOLLANDER: 'That would be a true Luis Castillo perfect game. But I'm thinking: What about a Johnny Vander Meer thing — like back-to-back no-hitters by Luis Castillos, but two different Luis Castillos. That's probably my dream moment — the new Johnny Vander Meers.' Brilliant. But alas, before we could savor that one, the Mariners went and foiled all of our dreams Thursday by optioning one of those Luis Castillos. (Guess which one?) But they left behind quite a Name Game tale for the ages. No, not the fact that the Castillo non-twins started back-to-back twice. It was all the confusion they caused at the Mariners' team hotel in San Francisco last weekend. Advertisement As the Seattle Times' Adam Jude reported, in a tidbit that should earn him instant Pulitzer Prize consideration, the front desk assigned one of their lovely suites to Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo. Which was great, except for the fact it was … (you guessed this, right?) … the wrong Luis Castillo. So the 'real' Luis Castillo had to hang out in the lobby until they found a suite for him, too. Because that's just how it goes when you get two dudes with the same name in … Baseball! (Top image: Luis Castillo, left: Steph Chambers / Getty Images; Luis F. Castillo, right: Bob Kupbens / Imagn Images)
