In 1987 the spunky, 5'9" Candaele played six positions and finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. His teammates had a pool to guess the date of his first home run; it came on July 19, and was the shortest ever to clear the fence at Olympic Stadium. A special yellow seat was set in the first row of bleachers to mark the shot. The switch-hitter was later demoted and traded to Houston in mid-1988. His most productive season came in 1991 when he played in a career-high 151 games for the Astros while hitting .262 with four home runs and 50 RBIs. After being out of baseball for two years, Candaele resurfaced briefly a reserve for the Indians' division-winning squads in 1996 and 1997. Casey's mother, Helen Callahan St. Aubin, played in the professional All American Girls Baseball League of 1942-1954 and had 354 steals in 388 games.
(JCA)
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