Exclusive: Colorado Rockies legend Vinny Castilla on his career, future, and grilling

But with his retirement from playing and less travel, he has had more time for another passion that he has had for most of his life: grilling.

It’s something that he learned from his dad.

“My dad loves to cook,” said Castilla, “and it was always fun because we would eat together as a family and we’d always have [our extended family] and friends come over to barbecue and I loved it and my dad loved it too. Every weekend when we don’t have a game [at home] or in the winter, we get together to do all of this stuff because it’s what I love to do. I love grilling. [Whether it’s] steaks or chicken or ribs, I still love to do that.”

With Kingsford partnering with Major League Baseball on a cookbook with a recipe for each team, particularly based on popular items and the culture of each city. However, they have more recipes included from former major leaguers including Omar Vizquel, Eric Karros, Harold Reynolds, and David Ortiz.

I asked him about why he decided to partner with Kingsford for the campaign.

“They said that they were doing a cookbook, called Taste of the Game, so they wanted recipes from all 30 major league teams,” said Castilla. “They wanted to put a couple of my recipes in the book so it was really cool for them to call me [to be a part of the cookbook].”

Included in the book is his recipe for carne asada (which is “grilled beef” in English) but he also has some other favorite grilling recipes.

“I like chicken [and] I love ribs too,” Castilla said. “For the chicken, I like to marinate it with lime juice, some cilantro, and jalapeños–very simple–and then just put a little bit of salt and throw them on the grill and I love it…I like making quesadillas on the grill [too]. My wife will do the other stuff, like the salsas, tortillas, beans, and all of the good stuff.”

In addition to talking about grilling and what he is doing now, we also discussed his baseball career.

He came to the Rockies as a part of the 1992 expansion draft before the Rockies took the field in their inaugural season in 1993. He started out as a shortstop and was the Rockies shortstop for most of the ’93 season.

However, due to struggles at the plate (71 OPS+), the signed Walt Weiss to play shortstop. Castilla spent much of ’94 as a backup infielder, cutting his playing time in half and having to rove between all four infield positions.

Entering 1995, though, the Rockies let their third baseman Charlie Hayes go via free agency. As a result, the Rockies gave Castilla the starting third baseman job. He flourished as he became one of the Blake Street Bombers in the Rockies first season at the corner of 20th and Blake, as he hit 32 home runs and 90 RBI with an OPS+ of 113.

With the everyday transition from shortstop to third base, you may think that he would have some challenges but he says that, at least for him, that’s not the case.

“When you play shortstop, I think you can play anywhere in the infield,” said Castilla. “I think that shortstop is the toughest position in the infield so for me, it was an easy adjustment to move to third base. [I] just had to practice it a little bit more but it wasn’t hard. If you’re going from third base to shortstop, it’s going to be harder but from short to third, I think it’s a lot easier.”

While he was with the Rockies, in 1999, the Rockies and Padres became the first two MLB teams to play a game outside of the United States and Canada; it was in Monterrey, Mexico. Castilla is from Oaxaca, Mexico, which is about 850 miles south of Monterrey.

But playing in his home country was something that he will always remember.

“That was a great experience for me and my family to play the Opening Day game against the Padres in Monterrey. Just to see the [Mexican] flag and the people [who were] so excited about that game. It was an unbelievable experience…We won that game (8-2) and I had a great game too (four hits, including a double). I will never forget that.

However, that was not the most memorable experience of his career. That would be being called up to the majors.

“Since I was a little boy, I always wanted to play in the major leagues,” said Castilla. “With being from a small town in Mexico (Oaxaca, which had a population of about 90,000 when he was born), at that time, it seemed too distant to become a major league player because it’s hard to get out of there, especially to play major league baseball.” “When I started playing at better levels, people told me that I was pretty good at baseball and that’s when I signed to play baseball in Mexico. And then, when the Atlanta Braves signed me to come to the States to play baseball, I started realizing that I had a chance to be a major leaguer. So that moment when they called me up to the major leagues (in late 1991)…and when my dream came true and, for the first time, I put on a major league uniform, that was my favorite moment.”

After that ’99 season, though, Castilla was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which was something that Castilla did not like because he would have to leave what became his home.

“I didn’t feel too good about that when it happened because I love Denver and I love the fans,” Castilla said. “I think they’re the best fans in the world and when the Rockies traded me away, I felt sad but it’s part of the game. One day, you could be in one place and the next, you’re somewhere else so I took it as a professional and I went on my way.

He did not have the same success that he had in Denver either partially due to injury, which was caused by something that the Rockies don’t have.

“I had some tough times in Tampa,” said Castilla. “I got hurt there–my back. I never played on artificial turf…everyday before so that surface hurt my back and I wasn’t able to play to my capacity while I was there.

It did not work out for the Rockies either, as you can see by who the Rockies got in the trade

Castilla returned to the Rockies for the first time in 2004 and, later, in 2006, he was very happy to return.

“I always felt great in Denver,” said Castilla. “I always appreciated what they did for me since I came to the organization. The Rockies were the ones that gave me a chance to establish myself at the major league level. I still live in Denver with my wife and my three boys were born there so when I came back in 2004, it felt like I was coming back home again and I had a great season.”

In that season, he had his best offensive season since 1998 as he lead the National League in RBI with 131 along with 35 home runs and a 109 OPS+.

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Particularly after Castilla’s retirement in the last few years, there has been some talks on how one thing with playing at Coors Field is that the recovery time for players is different, whether it be from injuries or just the transition from road games (not at altitude) and home games (at altitude).

After calling Mile High Stadium or Coors Field home for parts of nine of his 16 MLB seasons, he said that he never felt that way.

“I’ve heard that before but to be honest with you, I never felt any different. I hear now that, because the altitude, it takes a toll on the players but I always felt good in Denver. After the season, I always played winter ball too. I wouldn’t play a full season of winter ball but I played for a month and a half or two months after the major league season.

As we mentioned earlier, he is a special assistant with the Rockies but, in the near future, that could potentially change.

“[Next month], I’m going to manage the team that I used to play for in winter ball in Mexico, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, and I want to really find out if I really want to do this in the future by doing that,” said Castilla. “I always say that baseball is my life and my passion and I want to stay involved in this beautiful game for the rest of my life. If the opportunity comes up and I like the coaching, I would love to [coach in the major leagues].”

He has managed and coached in the past, including managing Team Mexico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. That was the most recent time that he managed, though, as he did manage the Naranjeros de Hermosillo as a player-manager in 2008 and 2009 as well as managing Team Mexico in the Pan American Games in 2007.

At least in the meantime, though, Castilla will keep grilling with his family and friends and doing his special assistant duties with the Rockies.

You can check out Kingsford’s Taste of the Game cookbook on their website and on Amazon.com.