Starlin Castro's Goodbye Letter To Chicago On The Player's Tribune Made It Real

I suggest any Cubs fan or fan of Starlin Castro read the whole thing HERE, it was great and echoed a lot of the things fans feel for him. Some of the funnier highlights. Italics his, Bold mine.

My career started in the best way possible: a home run. But not every at-bat can be a home run. 

Talk about wisdom. Little Magic Johnson level knowledge for you. Some times you strike out, some times you hit a home run, some times you forget how many outs there are and head back to the dugout with the ball in your glove. That’s Star. 

From tossing a ball around in Lake Shore Park with Starlin Jr., to going fishing on Lake Michigan, 

I’m guessing Starlin got a charter boat but for a second I’d like to imagine him as one of those semi-homeless guys sitting on a milk crate, fishing for half dead bass underneath oil slicks in Diversey Harbor next to all the boats.

You didn’t just help me grow as a player; you helped me become an adult.

Translation, you had patience to stick with me when I was in or around about 20 shootings back home every winter. 

The veteran player who helped me most, without question, was Alfonso Soriano

Well now we know why Starlin didn’t really care about focusing on Defense.

As for this past season: Getting replaced at shortstop was a struggle for me at first. Change is never easy — especially when it is a change away from something you took pride in. But I also took pride in the fact that I was not going to be one of those players who lost his spot and then brought the team down with him.  I made adjustments. I tried to treat it like a new beginning. And it paid off: After losing the shortstop job in August, I hit .426 in September at second base. Out of all of my accomplishments as a Cub, that is the one I hope people talk about when they look back on my career: That in a situation where some players would have checked out, I kept my head up and worked even harder. I didn’t just say, “I want to help the team win.” I actually helped the team win.

Starlin really doesn’t get enough credit for how he handled himself this past year. The media desperately wanted to peg him a quitter and a bad attitude and he sacked up and found his way back into the lineup and had an unreal last month and a half. All the Starlin haters out there should know this year proved them very very wrong. 

And to my old city, Chicago, I want to thank you for such an amazing experience. I’ll always hold Chicago close to my heart. And hey — maybe I’ll still visit sometime.

How’s October?

And now I’m tearing up. 

Also, a preemptive fuck you to the Yankees for taking away Starlin’s soul. I can just feel it already happening.