It has been well-documented that Starlin Castro has a bit of a problem paying attention during games. On more than one occasion, Castro has been caught with his back to the plate while an opposing player hits. But in Wednesday afternoon against the Reds, the young player’s inability to pay attention reached new lows.
In the fourth inning as the Reds tallied their third out, all the Cubs players trotted off the field except Castro who appeared distracted by the group of seagulls that populated the vast vacated areas of Great American Ballpark where fans would normally sit. Castro actually appeared to be hunting seagulls with his finger guns. By the time Castro holstered his finger guns and turned back to the game the Cubs were at bat to start the fifth.
Castro slapped his glove and readied himself to play shortstop, he stayed on the field throughout the Cubs at bat even fielding a ball and throwing out teammate Anthony Rizzo with a powerful throw that almost overshot Reds first baseman Joey Votto.
After the Cubs’ third out and a lot of laughter from the dugout, Castro ran toward the Cubs dugout only to be greeted by his own players coming back out on to the field laughing. Embarrassed, Castro pulled his hat down over his eyes trotted back to his position and caught some more ribbing from fellow players.
Manager Dale Sveum was why he didn’t do anything about Castro playing for the other team while it was happening.
“Well I wanted to see how long it would take for him to figure it out,” said Sveum. “I didn’t think he would play the whole inning. If he wasn’t such a good player I’d bench him.”
Reds manager Dusty Baker appreciated Castro’s one inning of assistance.
“Well it was nice to have him help us out,” said Baker, “but that dude has got to pay attention.”
