Raul Casanova played hard, saw majors over nine seasons
A top prospect in the Padres system, some in the San Diego offices thought catcher Raul Casanova could go for a major league starting job the next year, The Birmingham Post-Herald wrote in July 1995. For Casanova, though, he was content to focus on what he could do then . "I'm glad they say that," Casanova, then a member of the AA Memphis Chicks, told The Post-Herald . "It shows they believe in me. But what I have to do is play hard here, and improve everything, hitting and defense." Casanova did make the majors the next year, with the Tigers after a trade. He then went on to see the majors over nine seasons , seeing as many as 101 games in a season. Casanova's career began in 1990, taken by the Mets in the eighth round of the draft out of Ponce High School in Puerto Rico. Casanova started with the Mets in the rookie Gulf Coast League . He got into 23 games and hit .077. He made rookie Kingsport in 1992, then moved to the Padres in a trade and played 199...
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