After 19 years of being unstoppable in 35 consecutive games, the brand remains one of the most difficult to reach for any Dominican.
On June 21, 2001, the Dominican Luis Castillo and the Florida Marlins they hosted the Detroit Tigers at the time at Pro Player Stadium, with the opportunity for the second baseman to hit for the 35th consecutive game.
In his first opportunity at bat, facing Steve Sparks, grounded to second base to be put out but in the bottom of the third inning he responded with a two-ball count without strikes with a single to shortstop and was able to hit back to left field in the fifth.
The game ended 4-1 in favor of the Florida team and in the second game of the series that weekend Castillo failed in all four chances he had. Raised to left in the first inning, strikeout in the third, rolled between short stops and second base, and a roll through the same area in the eighth ended the Dominican’s streak.
In that historic streak, the Dominican second baseman hit for .392 with 62 hits in 168 plate appearances, two homers, 24 runs scored, 14 RBIs and he only struck out 10.1% of his at-bats.
On a day like today, in 2002, Luis Castillo hits a hit in his match 3️⃣5️⃣ consecutively 🤯
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Castillo would tie for the 10th longest streak in league history, being the first foreigner to do so 🇩🇴✅
⠀#MLBxESPN pic.twitter.com/8WY0mtYzQu– ESPN.com.do🇩🇴 (@ESPN_DO) June 21, 2021
It was a great season for Castillo, playing second base in that season’s All-Star Game and getting his second. National League lead in stolen bases with 48.
Since 2002 only Chase Utley in 2006 (35) and Jimmy Rollins in 2005-06 (38) have been able to match or surpass Castillo, and among the Dominicans only Albert pujols in 2003, Willy taveras Y Moses Alou in 2007 they have been able to reach 30 games hitting in a row.
Luis Castillo remains the first and only Dominican and player not born in the United States to reach 35 consecutive hitting games, and at that time it was the 10th longest streak in history.
Castillo’s feat remains one of the greatest and most difficult to achieve as any Dominican and he kept all the fans attentive to each of his encounters.
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