Happy Birthday Benito Santiago!!!
Benito Santiago turns 48 years old today.
Santiago was an established baseball star when he joined the Florida Marlins in 1993 for their inaugural baseball season.
Santiago was the team’s most well known player, and his Hispanic heritage made him an instant hit in with the fans and city of Miami. Benito became an ambassador of the game in South Florida and he still makes periodic appearances associated with the team.
Santiago was a 5-time All-star, a 4-time Silver Slugger trophy winner, and the winner of three Gold Glove awards. He also won the Rookie of the Year Award as a member of the San Diego Padres during the 1987 baseball season.
Happy Birthday Benito!!!
In the 80′s Santiago and Tony Pena were the most exciting defensive catchers in MLB. My friends and I would always try to imitate them with varying degrees of success.
Matt, I recall me and my buddies trying to throw from home to second from our butts like Pena.
Sadly, that did not work out…
On a side note, my wife works with Pena’s nephew. And his brother is in the Nationals organization.