NY Mets trade retrospective: A catcher who caught a perfect game for a future actor

May trades aren’t incredibly common, but on May 30, 2009, the New York Mets and Chicago White Sox struck a deal. Backup catcher Ramon Castro was sent to the Windy City along with cash for Lance Broadway. Broadway’s name seemed destined to land him in New York at some point.

The deal occurred because Castro lost his backup duties to Omir Santos upon the return of Brian Schneider from the IL. A backup catcher for a 25-year-old reliever. What could go wrong?

This was a sour Mets trade in one of the club’s lousiest seasons you might remember

Santos and, more importantly, Schneider didn’t do a whole lot for the Mets as a catching tandem. Santos batted .260/.296/.391 on the season while receiving the majority of starts at the position. Schneider would appear in only 59 games for the club while adding a .218/.292/.335 batting line. Compared to the .253/.322/.430 Castro hit prior to the deal with just as many home runs (3) as Schneider would hit all year in about 100 more plate appearances, we can already see which direction this trade headed.

Castro had previously put together several productive seasons as the backup. Offensive totals that in four previous years with the team bested what Santos and Schneider gave the Mets in 2009 in several areas, his .285/.331/.556 slash line and 11 home runs and 31 RBI in 157 plate appearances during the 2007 season was what had Mets fans calling him for him to be the starter over Schneider. Unfortunately, injuries did get in the way.

Castro didn't hit remarkably well in 2009 for the White Sox but less than two months after being acquired by Chicago, he was behind the plate for Mark Buehrle’s perfect game. The following year he batted .278/.328/.504 with 8 home runs and 21 RBI in 128 trips to the plate. It was more on-brand than the .184/.262/.382 he hit in limited action with Chicago the year prior.

Out in Illinois, Castro was doing well and being a part of history. Over in Flushing, Broadway shut down early. He came to the Mets with a 5.06 ERA in 16 innings for the White Sox. He got knocked around in 14.2 innings for the Mets in 2009, ending the year with a 6.75 ERA while wearing orange and blue. He was released in the offseason and would pitch one more year in professional baseball, never again reaching the majors.

Broadway would go on to have a different kind of career. He was in the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen where he was a member of the secret service as well as several other films and television shows. How appropriate for a guy named Broadway to follow that path.