Benito Santiago Stats

Benito Santiago was born on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Santiago was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 14, 1986, with the San Diego Padres. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Benito Santiago baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"This guy (Benito Santiago) could be a pitcher -- that's how hard he throws. He cut down 23 of 62 base-stealers last season, and he's at his best throwing from the kneeling position; throwing that way, he nailed 10 of 26 felons and picked off five runners at first. Santiago threw out Howard Johnson so impressively two seasons ago that HoJo said without shame, 'I won't try stealing on Santiago anymore.'" - Inside Sports, February 1991

Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago Autograph on a 1989 Fleer Baseball Card (#316)

Benito Santiago Autograph on a 1989 Fleer Baseball Card (#316)

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Birth Name:   Benito Rivera Santiago
Nickname:   Benny
Born On:   03-09-1965  (Pisces)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Ponce, Puerto Rico
Year of Death Data Died On:   Still Living (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Still Living
Cemetery:   n/a
High School:   John F. Kennedy High School (San Isabel, PR)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-01   Player Weight Chart Weight:   190
First Game:   09-14-1986 (Age 21)
Last Game:   04-11-2005
Draft:   Undrafted Free Agent

Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago Hitting Stats

1986 21 Padres 17 62 10 18 2 0 3 0 6 2 0 12 0 1 0 0 .290 .308 .468
1987 22 Padres 146 546 64 164 33 2 18 0 79 16 2 112 1 4 5 12 .300 .324 .467
1988 23 Padres 139 492 49 122 22 2 10 1 46 24 2 82 5 5 1 18 .248 .282 .362
1989 24 Padres 129 462 50 109 16 3 16 1 62 26 6 89 3 2 1 9 .236 .277 .387
1990 25 Padres 100 344 42 93 8 5 11 1 53 27 2 55 1 7 3 4 .270 .323 .419
1991 26 Padres 152 580 60 155 22 3 17 0 87 23 5 114 0 7 4 21 .267 .296 .403
1992 27 Padres 106 386 37 97 21 0 10 0 42 21 1 52 0 4 0 14 .251 .287 .383
1993 28 Marlins 139 469 49 108 19 6 13 0 50 37 2 88 0 4 5 9 .230 .291 .380
1994 29 Marlins 101 337 35 92 14 2 11 0 41 25 1 57 2 4 1 11 .273 .322 .424
1995 30 Reds 81 266 40 76 20 0 11 0 44 24 1 48 0 2 4 7 .286 .351 .485
1996 31 Phillies 136 481 71 127 21 2 30 2 85 49 7 104 0 2 1 8 .264 .332 .503
1997 32 Blue Jays 97 341 31 83 10 0 13 1 42 17 1 80 1 5 2 10 .243 .279 .387
1998 33 Blue Jays 15 29 3 9 5 0 0 0 4 1 0 6 0 0 0 1 .310 .333 .483
1999 34 Cubs 109 350 28 87 18 3 7 0 36 32 6 71 0 2 2 13 .249 .313 .377
2000 35 Reds 89 252 22 66 11 1 8 1 45 19 8 45 0 5 1 7 .262 .310 .409
2001 36 Giants 133 477 39 125 25 4 6 0 45 23 0 78 7 6 2 19 .262 .295 .369
2002 37 Giants 126 478 56 133 24 5 16 1 74 27 8 73 3 7 2 19 .278 .315 .450
2003 38 Giants 108 401 53 112 21 2 11 0 56 29 0 69 0 2 2 13 .279 .329 .424
2004 39 Royals 49 175 15 48 10 0 6 0 23 8 0 32 3 1 2 9 .274 .312 .434
2005 40 Pirates 6 23 1 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 .261 .261 .391
20 Years 1,978 6,951 755 1,830 323 41 217 8 920 430 52 1,270 26 70 38 205 .263 .307 .415

Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago Fielding Stats

1986 Padres C 17 15 413 92 5.4 87 80 7 5 2 3 14 3 .946 5.69
1987 Padres C 146 140 3,660 919 6.3 897 817 80 22 12 22 0 22 .976 6.62
1988 Padres C 136 128 3,504 812 6.0 800 725 75 12 11 9 0 95 .985 6.16
1989 Padres C 127 122 3,261 786 6.2 766 685 81 20 10 14 14 4 .975 6.34
1990 Padres C 98 89 2,397 601 6.1 589 538 51 12 6 6 60 31 .980 6.63
1991 Padres C 151 148 3,915 944 6.3 930 830 100 14 14 8 14 0 .985 6.41
1991 Padres LF 1 0 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1992 Padres C 103 98 2,655 649 6.3 637 584 53 12 6 0 73 42 .982 6.48
1993 Marlins C 136 125 3,285 815 6.0 804 740 64 11 4 23 3 90 .987 6.61
1993 Marlins LF 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1994 Marlins C 97 88 2,358 582 6.0 577 511 66 5 6 6 45 4 .991 6.61
1995 Reds 1B 8 1 69 21 2.6 21 19 2 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 8.22
1995 Reds C 75 71 1,818 496 6.6 494 461 33 2 4 6 47 13 .996 7.34
1996 Phillies 1B 14 12 333 118 8.4 117 111 6 1 9 n/a n/a n/a .992 9.49
1996 Phillies C 114 112 2,946 794 7.0 784 723 61 10 5 8 64 28 .987 7.19
1997 Blue Jays C 95 93 2,457 663 7.0 661 621 40 2 10 7 48 31 .997 7.26
1998 Blue Jays C 15 6 204 47 3.1 47 45 2 0 0 1 10 0 1.000 6.22
1999 Cubs 1B 1 0 3 2 2.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 18.00
1999 Cubs C 107 95 2,524 609 5.7 603 560 43 6 8 10 42 25 .990 6.45
2000 Reds C 84 66 1,826 467 5.6 464 428 36 3 4 5 19 14 .994 6.86
2001 Giants 1B 2 1 24 7 3.5 7 7 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 7.88
2001 Giants C 130 119 3,240 898 6.9 893 830 63 5 12 8 66 35 .994 7.44
2002 Giants C 125 122 3,200 796 6.4 792 739 53 4 10 7 58 25 .995 6.68
2003 Giants C 106 106 2,708 668 6.3 663 629 34 5 3 8 44 10 .993 6.61
2004 Royals C 49 48 1,248 247 5.0 246 228 18 1 3 6 28 8 .996 5.32
2005 Pirates C 6 5 144 43 7.2 43 43 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.000 8.06
C Totals 1,917 1,796 47,763 11,928 6.2 11,777 10,817 960 151 130 157 652 480 .987 6.66
1B Totals 25 14 429 148 5.9 147 139 8 1 11 n/a n/a n/a .993 9.25
LF Totals 2 0 9 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
20 Years 1,944 1,810 48,201 12,076 6.2 11,924 10,956 968 152 141 157 652 480 .987 6.68

Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago Miscellaneous Stats

1986 Padres 0 1 .000 0 1 n/a 20.7 5.2 10.3 - - -
1987 Padres 21 12 .636 0 1 n/a 30.3 4.9 6.9 - - -
1988 Padres 15 7 .682 8 1 n/a 49.2 6.0 10.7 - - -
1989 Padres 11 6 .647 2 2 n/a 28.9 5.2 7.5 - - -
1990 Padres 5 5 .500 6 1 n/a 31.3 6.3 6.5 - - -
1991 Padres 8 10 .444 2 0 n/a 34.1 5.1 6.7 - - -
1992 Padres 2 5 .286 4 3 n/a 38.6 7.4 9.2 - - -
1993 Marlins 10 7 .588 7 1 n/a 36.1 5.3 9.4 - - -
1994 Marlins 1 2 .333 9 1 n/a 30.6 5.9 8.2 - - -
1995 Reds 2 2 .500 7 0 n/a 24.2 5.5 6.0 - - -
1996 Phillies 2 0 1.000 12 0 n/a 16.0 4.6 5.7 - - -
1997 Blue Jays 1 0 1.000 1 0 1 26.2 4.3 8.1 - - -
1998 Blue Jays 0 0 .000 4 0 0 0.0 4.8 7.3 - - -
1999 Cubs 1 1 .500 8 0 0 50.0 4.9 9.7 - - -
2000 Reds 2 2 .500 14 0 0 31.5 5.6 5.6 - - -
2001 Giants 5 4 .556 3 0 0 79.5 6.1 10.6 - - -
2002 Giants 4 2 .667 3 0 0 29.9 6.5 6.5 - - -
2003 Giants 0 1 .000 4 0 0 36.5 5.8 7.2 - - -
2004 Royals 1 2 .333 0 0 0 29.2 5.5 7.6 - - -
2005 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 7.7 0.0 - - -
20 Years 91 69 .569 94 11 1 32.0 5.5 7.6 - - -

Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1986 San Diego Padres 10 $60,000.00 - -
1987 San Diego Padres 9 $63,500.00 - -
1988 San Diego Padres 9 $167,500.00 - -
1989 San Diego Padres 9 $345,000.00 Stats -
1990 San Diego Padres 9 $750,000.00 Stats -
1991 San Diego Padres 9, 09 $1,650,000.00 Stats -
1992 San Diego Padres 09 $3,300,000.00 Stats -
1993 Florida Marlins 09 $3,400,000.00 - -
1994 Florida Marlins 09 $3,800,000.00 - n/a
1995 Cincinnati Reds 18 $1,650,000.00 - -
1996 Philadelphia Phillies 18 $1,700,000.00 - -
1997 Toronto Blue Jays 18 $2,500,000.00 - -
1998 Toronto Blue Jays 18 $4,000,000.00 - -
1999 Chicago Cubs 9 $1,700,000.00 - -
2000 Cincinnati Reds 6 $650,000.00 - -
2001 San Francisco Giants 33 $500,000.00 - -
2002 San Francisco Giants 33 $2,044,168.00 Stats Stats
2003 San Francisco Giants 33 $1,775,000.00 - -
2004 Kansas City Royals 30, 33 $2,150,000.00 - -
2005 Pittsburgh Pirates 34 $2,150,000.00 - -

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Did you know that Benito Santiago set a Major League record for rookies by hitting safely in thirty-four consecutive games (the fourteenth longest hitting streak in history at the time)? It was also the longest hitting streak by a catcher in Major League history, the longest ever by a San Diego Padres player and the longest ever by a Latin player!



Benito Santiago had a brilliantly strong throwing arm, was able to easily throw out would-be base stealers from his knees (video above), and has a few interesting numbers:

09: Benito Santiago was the only player in San Diego Padres history to wear number 09, the only Florida Marlins player in history wear number 09, and the only player ever from any team to add the zero in front of the nine on his uniform.

10: Benito Santiago was behind the plate in one-thousand nine-hundred seventeen games, ranking him number tenth in Major League history for most games caught in a career. Those above him: Al Lopez (1,918 GC), Jim Sundberg (1,927 GC), Brad Ausmus (1,938) Tony Pena (1,950 GC), Jason Kendall (2,025) Gary Carter (2,056 GC), Bob Boone (2,225 GC), Carlton Fisk (2,226 GC) and Ivan Rodriguez (2,427 GC).

16: Benito Santiago finished the 1987 season with sixteen walks in five-hundred seventy-two plate appearances, and teammate / first baseman John Kruk said, "Benny's only rule, is Thou Shalt Not Draw a Pass." Having only sixteen bases on balls didn't stop the writers from awarding him the Rookie of the Year Award (unanimously) at the end of the season.

86: Benito Santiago, on April 12, 1993, in the top of the sixth inning, 2-men out, a man on second, a 1-0 count, Trevor Wilson on the mound, hit the first home run in the history of the Florida Marlins franchise. This was Benny's eighty-sixth career home run.

128: Benito Santiago, on May 3, 1996, in the top of the ninth inning, 1 man out, the bases were loaded, an 0-0 count, Greg Maddux on the mound, hit the first regular-season grand slam off future Hall of Famer Maddux who had been pitching for nearly ten years. This was Benny's one-hundred twenty-eighth career home run.

In 1988, Benito Santiago won the first of three consecutive Gold Gloves, the first San Diego Padres catcher to receive the prestigious honor. Santiago was the fifth catcher from the senior circuit to win three-or-more consecutive Gold Gloves, joining Tony Pena (1983-1985), Gary Carter (1980-1982), Johnny Bench (1968-1977), and Del Crandall (1958-1960).