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Rafael Santana

Rafael Santana
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 111 of 1218 players
Santana
Rafael Francisco De La Cruz Santana
Born: January 31, 1958 at La Romana, Dominican Republic
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.01 Weight: 156

Rafael Santana was the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup on September 23, 2010, March 15, 2013, March 16, 2013, September 27, 2015, August 5, 2016, February 7, 2021, November 14, 2023, and February 24, 2024.

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First Mets game: July 12, 1984
Last Mets game: October 4, 1987

Share your memories of Rafael Santana

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

flushing flash
It was good to see Rafi with the other 1986 Mets on "Ten Greatest Moments" day at Shea. Unfortunately it looks like Rafi has aged faster than his counterparts. While Roger McDowell looks like he could and should still be playing, Rafi looked to be about fifty.

Danny Erickson
December 18, 2000
I was impressed with Raffi when he first came up to the Mets in 1984. That was a fun team, that I wish it would have made it to the postseason. It's a shame that Raffi had his worst year with the bat in 1986. He was a little bit better than 218.

Steve Nadel
December 23, 2000
It shows you how great that 1986 Mets team must have been. They had a .218 hitting shortstop with mediocre range. Who knows how many more games they would have won even with an acrobatic shortstop like Rey Ordonez, or a better offensive shortstop.

NL
March 18, 2001
The Mets couldn't wait to give his job to Elster, who had proven nothing at the Major League Level. Elster had more talent and power, but Santana came to play and win every day. They gave up a steady, professional presence for another party boy - just what they needed.

Joe Figliola
April 5, 2002
I will NEVER forget Phillies pitcher Don Carman EXPLODING on television after giving up his THIRD home run to Santana in 1987. Raffi teeing off that $#@#$!baby definitely is in my top five moments from that season.

Larry Burns
June 19, 2002
I cannot believe this guy hit under 220 in 1986. He was even a worse hitter than Rey Ordonez, but he seemed to get bigger hits in clutch situations. He was an underrated shortstop. But when you have as much depth as that team had, you could carry a glove guy like Raffy!

JP TWO TIMES
June 7, 2004
I still envision Raffi doing the sign of the cross before every at bat. Honestly, I think he needed more than the help of God to get a base hit if you ask me.

jamey bumbalo
November 10, 2005
I always loved how Rafael seemed to never hurry or fire a throw to first base; he always gently lofted the ball to first just in time to get the runner. How did he always time those tosses just right? Playing third for a law school softball team, I threw the same way. The first time I did so, the shortshop and captain, also a Mets fan, scoffed and asked, "Where did you get that arm? K-Mart?" I told him I was throwing like Rafael Santana, and for three years he laughed every time I made a throw to first base.

Jonathan Stern
December 3, 2005
I was surprised by the off-color stories about Santana in the recent book about the 1986 team. I had long thought that he was a quiet and humble supporting player in the Al Weis mold, minus the major heroics. Maybe Santana proved it was possible to be both. Or perhaps the 1986 team as a whole made it possible.

=Chuck=
November 1, 2006
To me he always seemed like a decent fielder and good team player; the kind of guy who you wanted as a teammate and who didn't cause trouble. Sure, his hitting wasn't great, but in the '80s there really weren't shortstops with Derek Jeter's offensive numbers.

Joe Figliola
December 6, 2006
Y'know, I screwed up. I just checked Santana's game log from '87 and it turns out he hit TWO home runs off Carman. I thought it was three; but they were hit off him in something like an eight-game span. Still, watching Carman throw such a hissy fit on TV after Raffi hit the second one remains priceless.

Forgive me for the inaccuracy. However, I'm a little surprised no one called me on that since I wrote my first Santana tag a couple of years ago.

Stephen Vargo
March 27, 2008
I'm not even a Mets fan, but I loved watching him play. This guy couldn't hit. He couldn't field. He had no arm and no range, but he was still in the lineup almost every single day for the greatest team of my lifetime.

Feat Fan
May 18, 2008
So my ex-wife (I've had a few) and I get home plate field box tickets in June of 87 for Phillies. Not sure who started for NY, seemed that every home game that I went to from 85-88 was either Ronnie or Bobby O but for certain, Don Carman toiled the hill for the Philadelphians.

This was 1987, the year of (roids??) where 30+ hitters had 30 or more home runs, even Wade Boggs drilled 24.

Up comes Ralphy; he rips a rope, a rising line drive to dead CF that left the park in seconds. I thought I detected a look of amazed shock on his face along with Mets coach Bill Robinson. Certainly, Don Carmen was!

Bob P
May 19, 2008
Feat Fan, that was Friday night June 18, 1987!

HoJo hit one off Carman in the bottom of the second and Santana followed up with a fourth inning dinger just two batters after Kevin McReynolds hit one out. That gave the Mets a 5-0 lead in a game they would win, 8-1.

And the Mets starter that night was John Mitchell, who threw the only complete game of his career and picked up his first major league win.

Jim Snedeker
August 23, 2023
A little-known fact about Raffy is that he scored the run that gave the Mets the 1986 championship. In the seventh inning of Game 7, he scored the Mets' sixth overall run on a sac fly by Keith Hernandez. This made the score 6-3 and proved to be the winning margin as the Mets won the game, 8-5.








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