Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago was born in Ponce and grew up in Santa Isabel, a small town on the southern coast of Puerto Rico.

Early on, his amazing talent and love for the game caught attention of San Diego Padres.

Benito made his major league debut with Padres in 1986. In 1987, he established a Major League record for a rookie by hitting safely in 34 straight games, which still stands today as the longest hitting streak by a catcher ever, and won the National Rookie of The Year Award unanimously. Benito’s inimitable ability to throw out would-be base stealers from his knees became legendary. It was often said that he had had the deadliest throwing arm in all major leagues.

Playing with the San Diego Padres in 1987, Benito Santiago established a Major League record for a rookie by hitting safely in 34 straight games. This also stands today as the longest hitting streak ever by a catcher. he also stole 21 bases that year.

October 13, 2002 at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, California. Benito Santiago hits two RBI home run in the eighth inning bringing in teammate Barry Bonds #25 to give the Giants the lead 4-2 over the St. Louis Cardinals during game four of the National League Championship series

In his nineteen-year career, Benito Santiago played for Florida Marlins, where he hit the first homerun in team’s history, and Philadelphia Phillies, where he became the first player to hit a grand slam off Gregg Maddux in the regular season after Maddux had been pitching for nearly ten years. Maddux had previously surrendered one to Will Clark in the 1989 National League Championship Series and has only allowed two since. In that same season, Benito hit a homerun in four consecutive at-bats.

After signing with Toronto Blue Jays in 1997, Benito was involved in serious car accident. His injuries were so severe that doctors were confident Benito Santiago would never play baseball again.

He defied the odds. In 2001, Benito joined San Francisco Giants and received the Will Mac Award that year, in recognition of his spirit. His home run in game four for National League Championship against Cardinals in 2002 took the Giants to their first World Series since 1989. Benito was named the Most Valuable Player of the Year.

Five times an All Star and three times Golden Glove winner, Benito Santiago holds seventh place position for most games caught in a career.