Casey Candaele took competitiveness to 9 majors seasons
At 5 feet, 9 inches tall, Casey Candaele wasn't that big, a factor that likely led to a lack of scout interest in him at draft time, his hometown Lompoc Record wrote.
But after a big summer in Alaska in 1982, an Expos scout took notice. Actually his first base coach. And Candaele was off to the pros, The Record wrote.
"His lack of size might discourage some people," Candaele's old high school baseball coach Dan Bodary told The Record, "but if competitiveness is the measure of a good major league player, then he will go a long way."
Candaele did go a long way, all the way to the majors. He ended up seeing time in nine major league seasons, his last with the Indians in 1997.
Candaele's career began that year in 1982, signed by the Expos as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Arizona.
Candaele came to baseball from a baseball family, specifically his mother Helen St. Aubin played in the Women's Professional Baseball League from 1944 to 1949 and even became known as "the female Ted Williams," The Associated Press wrote.
"I thought all moms taught you how to play baseball," Candaele told The AP upon the release of the movie "A League of Their Own." She was an inspiration to me and she still is. She was a good ball player and a professional. She just helped out with the fundamentals."
Candaele started with the Expos at single-A West Palm Beach and AA Memphis. He made AAA Indianapolis in 1986 and Montreal that June.
Candaele got into 30 games that first year with the Expos and hit .231. He then saw 138 games in 1987 and hit .272.
For 1988, the Expos traded him mid-season to the Astros. He got into 57 games overall and hit .170.
He missed the majors in 1989 due to an eye issue, but returned with the Astros in 1990. He got into 130 games and hit .286. He also saw seven games at AAA Tucson.
"He's amazing," Astros manager Art Howe told The Houston Post that June after a Candaele hot streak. "He's my ace in the hole."
Candaele then saw 151 games with the Astros in 1991 and 135 in 1992. He hit .262 and .213.
He then saw 75 games with the Astros in 1993, and returned three seasons later with the Indians for 24 games in 1996 and 14 final games in the majors with the Indians in 1997.
Candaele continued in the minors and independent ball. He last played for independent Nashua in 2000.
Candaele has since turned coach and manager. He served as Mariners first base coach in 2016 and 2017, then as a manager in the minors with the Blue Jays. He's last credited as manager at AAA Buffalo in 2024.
- Lompoc Record, Aug. 27, 1982: Candaele makes the pros
- Houston Post, June 12, 1990: Candaele providing improbable source of power for Astros
- Rutland Daily Herald, June 28, 1992: Major League Mom Taught Five Sons To Play The Game Like Professionals
Made the Majors:1,440-31.6%-X
Never Made Majors:3,118-68.4%
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