José Santiago

José Rafael Santiago Alfonso (born August 15, 1940) is a Puerto Rican former right-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1970 for the Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox. In the LBPPR, Santiago won 100 games in 13 seasons. He also played in the minor leagues, the Negro League, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Professional baseball

Kansas City Athletics Santiago was originally scouted by the New York Giants, and went to spring training with them. However, the Giants had not paid Santiago the money agreed to under their contract, while promising it was forthcoming. When the Giants assigned him to pitch for their minor league Class D team, still promising his unpaid bonus was coming, Santiago returned to Puerto Rico and to college.

In 1964, he pitched 34 games for the Athletics, mostly as a relief pitcher, with six losses and a 4.73 earned run average (ERA). In 1965, he pitched almost the whole season for the Vancouver Mounties of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, with a 6–3 win-loss record, 2.19 ERA, and 135 strikeouts in 119 innings pitched. At the end of the 1965 season, his contract rights were sold to the Boston Red Sox. The Athletics were managed by Haywood Sullivan in 1965, and he moved to Boston as player personnel director in 1966, and he was the one who wanted Santiago to join the Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox The 1966 Red Sox finished with a record of 72–90, and were in second-to-last place in the standings, 26 games behind the eventual world champion Baltimore Orioles. Santiago had a 12–13 record (the most wins on the Red Sox ) and 3.66 ERA.

Santiago was a key member of the Red Sox pitching staff in 1967, posting a 12–4 record with a 3.59 ERA in 50 games. His final eight wins were consecutive, at the end of the season, including a September 30, 1967 game he started and won against the Twins that created a tie for first place. As he walked off the field after seven innings of pitching, the Boston fans gave him a standing ovation for his performance that day. However, he also made several important starts, including Game 1 of the 1967 World Series, which he lost to Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, 2–1, accounting for the only Boston run with a home run in his first World Series plate appearance. He was the first Latin pitcher to start Game 1 of a World Series.

Winter baseball and manager From 1972 to 1975, he played winter baseball in Puerto Rico, and played Mexican League baseball in 1976.

Personal life In 1980, he founded a boys baseball school in Puerto Rico, the Academia Beisbol Palillo Santiago, which he ran for 10–15 years; and was highly involved in Little League baseball in Puerto Rico. Santiago was inducted into the Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. He was also inducted into the Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame and the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame. In 1999, the LBPPR included him in its 20th century team.

After he retired, Santiago became a longtime play-by-play announcer, and general manager, for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (the Santurce Crabbers), and was also the voice of the Senadores de San Juan (five years) and the Gigantes de Carolina (2004–2006). 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 announcer during the 1980s.