José Rafael Santiago Alfonso (born August 15, 1940) is a Puerto Rican former right-handed

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1963 to 1970 for the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

Biography

Possessor of an outstanding curveball, Santiago reached the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

with the

. His contract was sold to the

after the 1965 season, and he became a key member of pitching staff of the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

Red Sox, posting a 12–4 record with a 3.59

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 50 games. He was largely a middle relief pitcher that season, starting only 11 games, and compiled an 8–3 mark in relief with five saves. However, he also made several important starts, including Game 1 of the

1967 World Series The 1967 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1967 season. The 64th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...

, which he lost to

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Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

, 2–1, accounting for the only Boston run with a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

in his first World Series plate appearance. Although Santiago lost both of his World Series decisions to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and compiled an ERA of 5.59, he began the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

campaign in the Boston rotation, compiling a 9–4 record with a 2.25 ERA in 18 starts before an elbow injury ended his season. After that, he appeared in only 18 more games during

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, and never won another major league game. Santiago ended his majors career with 163 appearances, 34 victories and 29 losses and an ERA of 3.74. He also was selected to the 1968 MLB All-Star Game. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, Santiago managed in a short-lived Class AAA circuit, the

Inter-American League The Inter-American League was a high-level circuit in Minor league baseball that lasted only three months before folding during the 1979 season. The league was conceived both as an official Triple-A minor league circuit and member of the Nati ...

, as skipper of the Puerto Rico Boricuas. His club won 16 of 55 games (.291), ending sixth and last in the six-team league, and folded June 17. Thirteen days later, the entire league shut down. After he retired, Santiago became a longtime play-by-play announcer for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the

Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) is the main professional baseball league in Puerto Rico; it is colloquially referred to as the Puerto Rican Winter League. Consisting of seven teams as of the 2020–21 season, the league's ...

. For some time during the 1980s, Santiago was also a boxing promoter in Puerto Rico; several of his boxing promotions were televised locally. He was also a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

announcer during the 1980s.

Sources

*Bucek, Jeanine, editorial director, ''The Baseball Encyclopedia: 10th Edition.'' New York: Macmillan USA, 1996.

References

External links

, o
Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Jose 1940 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players American League All-Stars Boston Red Sox players Dallas Rangers players Grand Island A's players Kansas City Athletics players Leones de Ponce players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers Navegantes del Magallanes players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Olean A's players People from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico Portland Beavers players Professional wrestling announcers Senadores de San Juan players Shreveport Sports players Vancouver Mounties players Visalia A's players

Biography

Sources

References

Further reading

External links