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Castro can be that good

The most intriguing competition in Chicago baseball the next few years will be Starlin Castro against the Cubs’ culture.Can this precocious young player avoid becoming just another Cubbie occurrence?#147;He showed today how good he can be,#148; White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Monday night after the Cubs#146; 6-3 victory in Comiskey Park.How good Castro can be and how good he will be always are the questions with a young Cubs#146; player.Beyond that is the question of how much Castro will win even if he becomes all he can be. A lot of great Cubs have suffered a lot of bad Cub losses.Castro is different from most other Cubs prospects over the years. He#146;s legitimate and his upside appears unlimited.One thing appears certain about the young man playing shortstop for the Cubs: He is not afraid of the big stage.Over the weekend against the Yankees, the Cubs set a record for attendance during a three-game series in Wrigley Field.The Cubs lost two of the games, but Castro responded with 5 hits in 13 at-bats.Monday night the Cubs traveled eight miles south to open a three-game series against the rival White Sox.The Cubs won this one essentially because Castro kept them in it.#147;Awesome,#148; Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena said of Castro#146;s performance. #147;I#146;ve been impressed by him pretty much all season. I#146;m just happy to get to watch him.#148;Remember, this is the crosstown classic. Oops. Better make that the BP Crosstown Classic so the bills get paid.Anything might happen in this series. Castro might even have a better night than he had on this one, which is saying something.#147;I don#146;t follow the National League,#148; Guillen said. #147;You look at (Castro#146;s) numbers and I#146;m very impressed.#148;Castro#146;s numbers include a .318 batting average, helped by 2 hits in 4 at-bats Monday. After the Sox took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, he tied the game with a 2-run single and a solo home run.Overall these weren#146;t a bad few days for a 21-year-old playing his first full season in the major leagues, his first games against the legendary Yankees and his first game against the rival Sox.When a player like Castro arrives in Chicago, it#146;s intriguing to ponder where and what he might be in a few years.First of all, will Castro still be a shortstop by 2014 or even by 2012? Will he be more selective at bat? Will he grow another couple inches and add a few more pounds?Most important, will Castro resist being poisoned by the Cubs?Losing can permeate everything and everyone the Cubs come in contact with. It can be accepted and in some cases even embraced because it#146;s comfortable.So what will it be with Starlin Castro?A player this young and impressionable easily could watch the Cubs#146; wrong guys with the bad habits. You know, the guys who don#146;t appear to play with much enthusiasm even when they do play with some effort.Castro can follow those guys into failure or lead future Cubs into a new era of uncustomary success.The Cubs have been looking for a youngster to grow into a veteran, continue excelling on the big stage and become the right kind of example in the process.Maybe Starlin Castro can be that player if he avoids becoming just another Cubbie occurrence.