(3) RAFAEL SANTANA INDEX CARD SIGNED 1986 WS CHAMPS NEW YORK METS PSA/DNA CERT

Description

(3) RAFAEL SANTANA INDEX CARD SIGNED 1986 WS CHAMPS NEW YORK METS PSA/DNA CERT
Rafael Francisco Santana de la Cruz
(born January 31, 1958) is a former MLB SS
who won a
World Series ring
with the
1986 New York Mets
. He currently serves as the
Dominican Republic
scouting and player development supervisor for the
Chicago White Sox
.
Santana was released by the Cardinals on January 17,
1984
, and signed that same day with the
New York Mets
. During the 1984 season, he played 51 games for the Mets, hitting a career-best .271 with a
home run
and 12 RBIs as the primary back-up for starting shortstop
Jose Oquendo
.
Oquendo was traded with Mark J. Davis to the St. Louis Cardinals for
Ángel Salazar
and John Young during the offseason, making Santana the regular Mets shortstop for
1985
. He responded with a .257
batting average
and a .965
fielding percentage
for the squad that finished with 98 wins, and three games behind the Cards in the
National League East
.
During the
1986
regular season, he batted just .218 with a home run and 28 RBIs, however, batting eighth in the order, he also led the squad with twelve
intentional walks
(Mets pitchers batted only .123 for the season). Santana started all 13 games for the Mets during the
1986
post-season, and established an NLCS record for most putouts (13), assists (18) and chances accepted (31) by a shortstop in a six-game series against the
Houston Astros
.
After the
1987
campaign where he set career-highs in home runs (5) and RBIs (44) with the Mets, Santana was traded to the cross-town Yankees with Victor Garcia for
Steve Frey
,
Phil Lombardi
and
Darren Reed
. He hit .240 with four home runs and 38 RBIs for managers
Billy Martin
and
Lou Piniella
in
1988
. After missing the entire
1989
season with an elbow injury, Santana was released on November 7 of that year