Former Met of the Day: Rafael Santana (1984-1987)

Rafael Francisco Santana was born January 31, 1958, in the Dominican Republic. In 1976 he signed with the Al New York club playing in their system until 1983. That season he was traded to St. Louis and played 30 quick games for the Cardinals batting only .214. In January of 1984 he was released by St. Louis & a few hours later signed with the Mets.

Santana started his Mets career as Jose Oquendo’s 1984 back short stop. The book on Rafey was limited range, but had good speed and a good arm. He drove Keith Hernandez crazy with his high arched throws that would just beat the runners, only firing the ball when absolutely necessary.

In 1984 he hit .271 with 12 RBIs & batted .271. During the last week of the season he hit his first MLB HR against the Phillies. By 1985 he became the Mets regular shortstop and would hold that position for three seasons. He was a weak hitter and mostly batted in the eighth spot within a strong Met line up. He hit .257 in 1985, which was best as a regular player. In the 1986 Championship season he hit under .200 most of the season. By late August he hit better and finished batting only .218 with one HR 11 doubles & 28 RBIs.

Post Season: In the NLCS he played in all six games but batted only .176 (3-17). He set an NLCS record for shortstops in putouts (13), assists (18) and chances (31) in a six-game series. In the World Series he hit .250 (5-20) scoring three runs & driving in two. He helped ignite the Game Seven, 7th inning rally with an RBI single, and then scored on Keith Hernandez’s sacrifice fly.

The next season, he hit a career best in HRs (5) doubles (21) and RBIs (44), but Kevin Elster was on the scene as the organizations choice for shortstop of the future. On December 11, 1987 he was Traded with minor leaguer Victor Garcia to the AL New York club for Steve Frey, Phil Lombardi and Darren Reed. There he played a full season as their regular short stop, 143 games, batting .240 with 4 HRs and 38 RBIs.

He missed the entire 1989 season with an elbow injury, and got was released. In 1990, he signed with the and only played in seven games getting released on April 25th. Oddly enough 1986 Mets, Keith Hernandez, Jesse Orosco, and Stan Jefferson were on that same Cleveland team. After a short seven season career he retired at the age of 32, a lifetime .246 average with 13 HRs 74 doubles, and 156 RBI in 668 games. On the field he posted a lifetime .969 fielding percentage.

Retirement: After his playing career, Santana has been a long time coach with the Dominican Winter League, the Royals, Red Sox & White Sox farm systems. He is currently in charge of the White Sox player development in the Dominican Republic. He is also a member of the Mets Alumni Association along with past Mets players, and still makes personal appearances. He attended the 1986 Mets, 20th Anniversary Reunion in 2006.