1986 Mets Short Stop: 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 as an amateur free agent playing in their system until 1981. That year he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later (George Frazier). He hit over .280 in 1982 & 1983 in the minors, both minor league bests for him, while playing a fine short stop. He was called up in 1983 & played in 30 games for the Cardinals batting just .214. In January of 1984 he was released by St. Louis & a few hours later signed with the New York Mets.

In 1984 Santana batted .276 at AAA Tidewater in 77 games & was called up to the Mets in July to fill a roster spot. He started his Mets career as Jose Oquendo’s back short stop eventually taking over the position in August. The scouting reports on Santana were; limited range with good speed and a strong arm. He would drive first baseman Keith Hernandez crazy with his high arched throws that would just beat the base runners. It also seemed Santana would only fire the ball when absolutely necessary, otherwise it appeared he lobbed the ball over the infield. In 1984 at the plate he hit .271 with 12 RBIs hitting the first of his 13 career HRs during the last week of the season in a game against the Phillies.

By 1985 the Mets traded off Oquendo & Santana became the Mets regular shortstop, a job he would hold for three seasons. He was a weak hitter and mostly batting in the eighth spot within a strong Mets line up. He hit .257 in 1985, which was his career best as a regular player, with one HR, 19 doubles & 29 RBIs. He led all short stops in put outs (301) turned 81 double plays, making 25 errors (5th in the league).

In the 1986 Championship season he hit under .200 most of the season, but had a good August to raise him over the .200 mark. He began the month with a six game hit streak & on the 15th he had his biggest day. Gathering three hits with a pair of doubles & two runs scored against the Cardinals at Shea.

By late August he hit well enough the rest of the way to finish at .218, with one HR 11 doubles & 28 RBIs. His .973 fielding % was fourth best among NL shortstops. As a member of a wild bunch on the 1986 team, Santana was low key. He never got in any trouble & always conducted himself like a gentleman. He told the news in 2009 from his home in Cape Coral, Florida; "I never got in trouble. I was never arrested. My job was too important for me to do something stupid."

Post Season: In the NLCS against Houston, he played in all six games, setting an NLCS record for shortstops in putouts (13), assists (18) and chances (31) in a six-game series. At the plate he was 3-17 batting .176. In the World Series he hit .250 (5-20) scoring three runs & driving in two. In Game #7 he singled home Lenny Dykstra after Ray Knight had homered in the bottom of the 7th inning, & later scored on Keith Hernandez’s sacrifice fly.

The next season, Santana had the league’s second best fielding% at short (.973) turned over 82 doubles plays & was third in put outs & assists. At the plate he had career best in HRs (5) doubles (21) and RBIs (44), but it was his last season as a Met. Kevin Elster was on the scene, as the organizations choice for shortstop of the future & on December 11, 1987 Santana 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 made 22 errors (third among AL short stops) & grounded into 17 double plays. An elbow injury forced him to miss the entire 1989 season, and that November he was released. In 1990, he signed with the Cleveland Indians joining former 1986 Mets team mates Kieth Hernandez & Jesse Orosco.

He would only play in seven games getting released on April 25th. After a short seven season career he retired at the age of 32, with 497 hits 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 (87th all time).

Retirement: Since his playing career, Santana has been a long time coach in the Dominican Winter League, with 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 20th Anniversary of the 1986 Championship Team & attended the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium.