Benito Santiago

Rookie of the Year (BBWAA, Sporting News & Baseball Digest) 1987
Golden Glove Winner 1988-1990
Silver Slugger Award 1987-88, 1990-91
All-Star Selection 1989-1992, 2002
N.L. NLCS Most Valuable Player 2002
Full Name: Benito Santiago
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Height: 6-1 Weight: 185 lbs.
Born: Mar 09, 1965 in Ponce, P.R.
College: none
Major League Debut: September 14, 1986
Final Game: April 11, 2005
Died:  
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CAREER BATTING STATISTICS
  BATTING
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K Avg OBP SLG OPS
1986 SDN 17 62 10 18 2 0 3 6 2 12 .290 .308 .468 .775
1987 SDN 146 546 64 164 33 2 18 79 16 112 .300 .324 .467 .791
1988 SDN 139 492 49 122 22 2 10 46 24 82 .248 .282 .362 .643
1989 SDN 129 462 50 109 16 3 16 62 26 89 .236 .277 .387 .664
1990 SDN 100 344 42 93 8 5 11 53 27 55 .270 .323 .419 .741
1991 SDN 152 580 60 155 22 3 17 87 23 114 .267 .296 .403 .700
1992 SDN 106 386 37 97 21 0 10 42 21 52 .251 .287 .383 .671
1993 FLO 139 469 49 108 19 6 13 50 37 88 .230 .291 .380 .671
1994 FLO 101 337 35 92 14 2 11 41 25 57 .273 .322 .424 .746
1995 CIN 81 266 40 76 20 0 11 44 24 48 .286 .351 .485 .836
1996 PHI 136 481 71 127 21 2 30 85 49 104 .264 .332 .503 .835
1997 TOR 97 341 31 83 10 0 13 42 17 80 .243 .279 .387 .667
1998 TOR 15 29 3 9 5 0 0 4 1 6 .310 .333 .483 .816
1999 CHN 109 350 28 87 18 3 7 36 32 71 .249 .313 .377 .691
2000 CIN 89 252 22 66 11 1 8 45 19 45 .262 .310 .409 .719
2001 SFN 133 477 39 125 25 4 6 45 23 78 .262 .295 .369 .664
2002 SFN 126 478 56 133 24 5 16 74 27 73 .278 .315 .450 .765
2003 SFN 108 401 53 112 21 2 11 56 29 69 .279 .329 .424 .753
2004 KCA 49 175 15 48 10 0 6 23 8 32 .274 .312 .434 .746
2005 PIT 6 23 1 6 1 1 0 0 0 3 .261 .261 .391 .652
  G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K Avg OBP SLG OPS
Totals 1978 6951 755 1830 323 41 217 920 430 1270 0.263 0.307 0.415 0.722
    BATTING BASERUNNING    
Year Team HBP GDP TB IBB SH SF SB CS SB% AB/HR AB/K
1986 SDN 0 0 29 0 0 1 0 1 .000 20.67 5.17
1987 SDN 5 12 255 2 1 4 21 12 .636 30.33 4.88
1988 SDN 1 18 178 2 5 5 15 7 .682 49.20 6.00
1989 SDN 1 9 179 6 3 2 11 6 .647 28.88 5.19
1990 SDN 3 4 144 2 1 7 5 5 .500 31.27 6.25
1991 SDN 4 21 234 5 0 7 8 10 .444 34.12 5.09
1992 SDN 0 14 148 1 0 4 2 5 .286 38.60 7.42
1993 FLO 5 9 178 2 0 4 10 7 .588 36.08 5.33
1994 FLO 1 11 143 1 2 4 1 2 .333 30.64 5.91
1995 CIN 4 7 129 1 0 2 2 2 .500 24.18 5.54
1996 PHI 1 8 242 7 0 2 2 0 .000 16.03 4.63
1997 TOR 2 10 132 1 1 5 1 0 .000 26.23 4.26
1998 TOR 0 1 14 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .00 4.83
1999 CHN 2 13 132 6 0 2 1 1 .500 50.00 4.93
2000 CIN 1 7 103 8 0 5 2 2 .500 31.50 5.60
2001 SFN 2 19 176 0 7 6 5 4 .556 79.50 6.12
2002 SFN 2 19 215 8 3 7 4 2 .667 29.88 6.55
2003 SFN 2 13 170 0 0 2 0 1 .000 36.45 5.81
2004 KCA 2 9 76 0 3 1 1 2 .333 29.17 5.47
2005 PIT 0 1 9 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .00 7.67
  HBP GDP TB IBB SH SF SB CS SB% AB/HR AB/K
Totals   38 205 2886 52 26 70 91 69 0.57 32.03 5.47
CAREER FIELDING STATISTICS
Year Team POS G PO A E DP FPCT INN PB SBc CSc CS% PkO
1986 SDN C 17 80 7 5 2 .946 137.67 3 14 3 0.176 1
1987 SDN C 146 817 80 22 12 .976 1220.67 22 104 50 0.325 5
1988 SDN C 136 725 75 12 11 .985 1168.33 9 57 46 0.447 9
1989 SDN C 127 685 81 20 10 .975 1087.67 14 46 32 0.410 15
1990 SDN C 98 538 51 12 6 .980 799.67 6 60 31 0.341 4
1991 SDN C 151 830 100 14 14 .985 1305.33 8 93 57 0.380 1
1991 SDN OF 1 0 0 0 0 .000            
1992 SDN C 103 584 53 12 6 .982 885.33 0 73 42 0.365 0
1993 FLO C 136 740 64 11 4 .987 1095.00 23 90 39 0.302 7
1993 FLO OF 1 0 0 0 0 .000            
1994 FLO C 97 511 66 5 6 .991 786.67 6 45 40 0.471 2
1995 CIN C 75 461 33 2 4 .996 606.00 6 34 13 0.277 1
1995 CIN 1B 8 19 2 0 2 1.000            
1996 PHI C 114 723 61 10 5 .987 982.00 8 64 28 0.304 1
1996 PHI 1B 14 111 6 1 9 .992            
1997 TOR C 95 621 40 2 10 .997 819.33 7 48 31 0.392 2
1997 TOR DH 1         .000            
1998 TOR C 15 45 2 0 0 1.000 68.00 1 10 0 0.000 0
1999 CHN 1B 1 2 0 0 0 1.000            
1999 CHN C 107 560 43 6 8 .990 841.33 10 42 25 0.373 0
2000 CIN C 84 428 36 3 4 .994 608.67 5 19 14 0.424 1
2001 SFN 1B 2 7 0 0 0 1.000            
2001 SFN C 130 830 63 5 12 .994 1080.00 8 66 35 0.347 0
2002 SFN C 125 739 53 4 10 .995 1066.67 7 58 25 0.301 0
2003 SFN C 106 629 34 5 3 .993 902.67 8 44 10 0.185 0
2004 KCA C 49 228 18 1 3 .996 416.00 6 28 8 0.222 0
2005 PIT C 6 43 0 0 0 1.000 48.33 0 3 0 0.000 0
  POS G PO A E DP FPCT INN PB SBc CSc CS% PkO
Totals     1945 10956 968 152 141 0.987 15925.3 157 998 529 0.35 49
POST SEASON BATTING
  BATTING
Year Team Playoff G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB K Avg
1995 CIN NLDS2 3 9 2 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 2 3 .333
1995 CIN NLCS 4 13 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 .231
2002 SFN NLDS1 5 21 1 5 2 0 0 5 0 0 1 5 .238
2002 SFN NLCS 5 20 2 6 0 0 2 6 0 0 2 4 .300
2002 SFN WS 7 26 2 6 0 0 0 5 0 0 3 4 .231
2003 SFN NLDS1 4 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .182
  G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB K Avg
Totals 28 100 7 25 2 0 3 19 0 0 11 21 0.250
POST SEASON FIELDING
Year Team Playoff Pos G PO A E FPCT INN PB SBc CSc CS%
1995 CIN NLCS C 4 23 1 0 1.000 35.00 0 2 1 0.333
1995 CIN NLDS2 C 3 20 0 0 1.000 27.00 0 0 0 0.000
2002 SFN WS C 7 40 1 1 .976 60.00 1 6 0 0.000
2002 SFN NLCS C 5 24 2 0 1.000 45.00 0 1 1 0.500
2002 SFN NLDS1 C 5 32 2 1 .971 44.00 1 2 1 0.333
2003 SFN NLDS1 C 3 17 1 0 1.000 25.00 0 2 0 0.000
  Pos G PO A E FPCT INN PB SBc CSc CS%
Totals   27 156 7 2 0.988 236 2 13 3 0.19


 


Able to zip the ball on a line to any base from his knees, Santiago has the deadliest throwing arm among active ML catchers, but he has struggled offensively after a sensational rookie season, and his all-around defensive play remains sloppy. He was a unanimous choice as NL Rookie of the Year in 1987, when he hit .300 with 18 HR, 79 RBI, and 21 stolen bases, threw out 33% of the opposition's base stealers, and set a ML rookie record with a 34-game hitting streak (finally broken by Orel Hershiser). The streak was also a club record, and a ML record for catchers. Santiago's throwing improved in 1988, as he began to show off his lightning-quick from-the-knees throw more regularly. He threw out 45% of the base stealers who dared run against him, and picked off nine runners - seven at second base. His hitting, however, slumped badly (.248, 10 HR, 46 RBI), and although he won a Gold Glove, he still led NL catchers in errors for the second consecutive season with 12.


Biography

It's hard to believe that Benito has played for six different teams since winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1987 with the San Diego Padres. In recent seasons he's done more traveling than Rand McNally. After stops with the Florida Marlins (1993-94), Cincinnati Reds (1995), Philadelphia Phillies (1996), Toronto Blue Jays (1997-98), Chicago Cubs (1999) and Cincinnati again (2000), he hooked up with the Giants in 2001 and was most impressive in the early going. Benito hit .318 in April and .319 in May as he batted anywhere from fifth to eighth in the lineup. He went on to appear in 133 games -- his most since 1996 -- and hit .262, with six homers, 25 doubles and 45 RBI.

Benito has always been a good fastball hitter, but it was his cannon-like arm that garnered much of the attention during the early part of his career. Able to throw out runners from his knees, he nailed 35 of the 101 runners who tried to steal on him in 2001. Benito still holds major-league records for the longest hitting streak ever recorded by a catcher and a rookie. His streak of 34 games to close out the 1987 season was tied for the eighth longest in big-league history when 2002 began.


Transactions

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.


Salaries

Year Age Team Salary Sources Notes
1987 22 San Diego Padres $63,500 1987 USA Today survey
1988 23 San Diego Padres $167,500 USA Today, 4/1/88
1989 24 San Diego Padres $345,000 1991 TSN Guide 28; T. Timmerman database 1989 USA Today survey $336,000
1990 25 San Diego Padres $750,000*
1991 26 San Diego Padres $1,650,000 3/4/91 TSN Arbitration loss; $2,500,000 request
1992 27 San Diego Padres $3,300,000 4/2/92 USA Today Arbitration win; $2,500,000 offer
1993 28 Florida Marlins $3,400,000 1996 Joint Exhibit 1
1994 29 Florida Marlins $3,800,000 1996 Joint Exhibit 1
1995 30 Cincinnati Reds $650,000 1996 Joint Exhibit 1 Includes $100,000 earned bonus
1996 31 Philadelphia Phillies $1,700,000 1997 Joint Exhibit 1 Includes $600,000 earned bonus
1997 32 Toronto Blue Jays $2,500,000 1997 AP survey
1998 33 Toronto Blue Jays $4,000,000 4/3/98 USA Today
1999 34 Chicago Cubs $1,700,000 11/19/99 USA Today Includes $200,000 earned bonus
2000 35 Cincinnati Reds $650,000 4/5/00 AP
2001 36 San Francisco Giants $500,000 4/6/01 USA Today
2002 37 San Francisco Giants $2,044,168 4/3/02 AP
2003 38 San Francisco Giants $1,775,000 4/3/03 AP
2004 39 Kansas City Royals $2,150,000 4/7/04 AP
2005 40 Pittsburgh Pirates $2,150,000
Career to date (may be incomplete) $33,295,168
Disputed Salaries
*1990 - $1,250,000 - 11/21/90 NYT - Arbitration win; $750,000 offer
Salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, and the Society for American Baseball Research.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.

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