Baseball Fans Haven’t Been This Terrified Since Chuck Knoblauch Moved To The OF

During yesterday’s game between the Peoria Chiefs and the Dayton Dragons – Single-A affliates of the Cubs and Reds respectively – things got a little too violent. Actually, WAY too violent.

In the first inning, Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo caused some serious damage. Literally. Castillo plunked the second batter of the game, Zachary Kozart, in the head with a pitch. The game was stopped for a few minutes as Kozart lay on the ground (he ended up walking off the field). After striking out the next batter, Castillo chased a dribbler hit by the Dragons’ Brandon Waring behind the pitcher’s mound and ended up colliding with his own second baseman, Gian Guzman, who apparently took the brunt of the force. Guzman was down for about fifteen minutes, and was carted off on a stretcher. So four batters into the game, Julio Castillo had nearly killed a batter, injured his own second baseman, and had recorded one out.

But the inning didn’t end there. After the next two batters hit a double and a single, the Dragons were up 4-0, and Angel Cabrera came to the plate. Castillo hit him too, this time in the arm. On his way to first and angry, Cabrera threw some unkind words towards the mound, and things started heating up. The next batter was the fantastically named Keltavious Jones, who hit a ground ball to second. On the play, Angel Cabrera slides into the shortstop – spikes up – as the fielder was making the double play turn.

And then, oddly enough, the managers of both teams get into it. Donnie Scott, the Dragons’ skipper who was coaching third at the time, apparently started yapping at the pitcher Castillo following the play, and the Chiefs’ manager, Carmelo Martinez, didn’t appreciate the display and ran out to confront Scott. Then, THAT happened:

At about the 10 second mark of the video, you see the umpires turn their attention away from the tussling skippers towards the home bench. That’s because some Dayton players started walking onto the field, perhaps in an attempt to cool things down. And at about the 12 second mark, you see someone jump into the frame, THROWING A BASEBALL TOWARDS THE OPPOSING BENCH FROM LIKE 15 FEET AWAY. That’s Julio Castillo. Yes, the man who had already injured two players (one of whom was his own teammate) and hit another batter wasn’t satisfied with all the carnage he had already created, and fired a ball at his opponents’ bench. And missed. That’s right, he missed the bench entirely and the ball ricocheted INTO THE CROWD, STRIKING A FAN.

The recap of the game provided by the Peoria Chiefs doesn’t mention that part, nor does it mention the fact that Castillo was actually arrested for his actions.

Something tells me that Julio Castillo won’t be getting the call to join the Cubbies in September. I mean, Carlos Zambrano is pretty crazy too. But I’m pretty sure Big Z can accurately throw a baseball into a dugout from 15 feet away. And that’s what makes him a big leaguer.