Irvin Castille (May 17, 1926The Courier. SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee. Retrieved on February 13, 2019 – August 4, 2015Irvin M. Castille (May 17, 1926 – Aug 4, 2015). Legacy.com. Retrieved on February 13, 2019) was an American shortstop and third baseman who played from 1951 through 1953 in the Negro American League. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana,Irvin Castille in the 1940 Census. Ancestry website. Retrieved on February 13, 2019 he batted and threw right handed.
Castille joined the Birmingham Black Barons in the dying years of the Negro leagues.Birmingham Black Barons All-Time Roster (1923-1958). MiLB.com. Retrieved on February 13, 2019. He also was selected to the East–West All-Star Game in 1953.East-West All Star Game (1933-1956) - Players, Coaches and Managers. CNLBR.org. Retrieved on February 13, 2019. In between, he played with the Brandon Greys club of the independent Mandak League in its 1952 season.ManDak Photo Gallery 1952. Attheplate website. Retrieved on February 13, 2019.Negro Leaguers in Canada. CNLBR website. Retrieved on February 13, 2019.
On June 8, 2008, Major League Baseball staged a special draft of the surviving Negro league players, doing a tribute for the surviving Negro leaguers who were kept out of the Big Leagues because of their race. MLB clubs each selected a former NLB player, as Castille was drafted by the Oakland Athletics.
A week later, the San Diego Padres honored him during a homestand highlighted by a Salute to the Negro leagues, fireworks and U.S. Army Appreciation Day at Petco Park.Padres host Rangers and Mariners for fifth homestand . MLB.com. Retrieved on February 13, 2019. Late in the month, he signed autographs and shared stories about his playing days in the Times of Greatness Mobile event held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.2008 Special Negro Leagues Draft. MLB.com. Retrieved on February 13, 2019.
Castille was a long resident of Whittier, California, where he died in 2015 at the age of 83.
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