Félix Santana (minors01)

Félix Rafael Santana Inoa

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 152 lb.

• Born April 29, 1942 in Mao, Valverde D.R.

BR register page

Biographical Information

Félix Santana played 15 seasons in the minors, 3 in AAA, but never made the majors. He played in five different countries. His son Francisco Santana spent one season in the minor leagues with the Pirates.

Santana was on the Dominican national team in the 1959 Pan American Games. That year, he hit .328/.367/.418 for the Aguilas Cibaeñas in his Dominican League debut. Howie Haak signed him for the Pittsburgh Pirates for a $700 bonus in 1960. He batted .255/.330/.296 for the Aguilas in '60. He made his US debut with the 1960 Hobbs Pirates (.277/.314/.370 in 77 G) and Burlington Bees (3 for 8). His .958 fielding percentage led regular second basemen in the Sophomore League.

Moving up to the Grand Forks Chiefs in 1961, he produced at a .300/.409/.387 clip with 72 walks, 25 steals and 71 runs. He was 4th in the Northern League in steals (Lou Brock was second), second in fielding % at 2B and 7th in OBP (between Billy Ott and Perry Noun). He hit .270/.362/.339 with 71 walks, 50 swipes and 92 runs for the 1962 Kinston Eagles. He finished among the Carolina League leaders in runs (4th, behind Rusty Staub, Cesar Tovar and Glenn Vaughan), triples (8, tied for 7th) and steals (2nd, 6 behind Tovar). There was no Dominican League in 1962-1963 due to political turmoil and Santana wound up playing in Panama.

Santana split the summer of 1963 between the Asheville Tourists (.300/.358/.461 in 75 G, 16 SB, 3 CS) and Columbus Jets (.227/.261/.282 in his first 44 AAA games). Loaned to the Leones del Escogido, he hit .266/.319/.303 in 1963-1964. He spent all of 1964 in AAA with Columbus, hitting .220/.285/.299. Back with the Aguilas Cibaeñas in 1964-1965, he batted .252/.283/.285, with only 13 walks and six extra-base hits in 47 games. Pittsburgh demoted him to AA Asheville in '65 and he hit .279/.344/.371. He was 8th in the Southern League in average, between Ted Kubiak and Jerry Kushner. Only Chico Fernandez had a better fielding percentage among the regular second basemen.

In the winter of 1965-1966, he went to the Venezuelan League and hit .275 with a .430 slugging for the Tigres de Aragua. His six triples were second in the loop, one behind Tommie Reynolds. In '66, his batting line for Asheville was .240/.316/.377. Moving to shortstop, his .958 fielding percentage would have edged Jerry Kenney for the best among SL shortstops had he qualified. He hit .226/.248/.247 for the Aguilas that winter, back with his old team in the Dominican. Pittsburgh's AA affiliate changed to the Macon Peaches in 1967 and the veteran minor leaguer hit .235/.308/.273. In a low-offense season, his average was .004 behind the team average. He was .001 shy of the SL lead in fielding at 2B and .006 shy at SS, alternating between the two spots.

Santana hit .255/.278/.318 for the 1967-1968 Estrellas Orientales. With the York Pirates in 1968, his batting line read .187/.268/.229. He was also the not-yet-named Mendoza Line in the winter, hitting .186/.237/.192 with one extra-base hit (a double) in 46 games for the Estrellas. He served as a utility man in 1969 with York (.242/.276/.272 in 56 G) and the Salem Rebels (.298/.361/.313 in 40 G), falling back to A ball for part of the year. He pitched for the first time, allowing 3 runs in 3 innings for York. With the Estrellas in 1969-1970, he hit .261/.314/.323.

In his 12th year in the Pirates chain, he batted .269/.339/.335 in 62 games for Salem and .241/.338/.318 in 64 for the Waterbury Pirates (his 4th AA affiliate for the Bucs). After a solid winter for the Estrellas (.261/.328/.306), he hit only .165/.284/.174 in 51 games for Waterbury in '71, backing up at all three infield spots as well as the outfield. In 1971-1972, he hit .259/.283/.296 in the Dominican League.

With Salem (now the Salem Pirates) in 1972, he produced at a .267/.330/.374 clip. In 1972-1973, he was 5 for 25 with 3 walks and a double for the Estrellas, now a backup in winter ball as well. In his final year in the US, he hit .256/.336/.346 for Salem. In the winter, he went 8 for 40 with two walks and a double. He moved to the Mexican League for 1974 and hit .235/.294/.287 in 61 games between the Tampico Lightermen and Pueblo Parrots. He batted .273/.362/.309 for the 1974-1975 Estrellas and was 0 for 5 for them in 1975-1976 to end his career.

Overall, he had hit .256/~.330/.332 in 1,471 minor league games, with about 158 steals. He also managed in Mexico, apparently in the Liga Norte de Sonora.

Sources

• Spanish-language bio
• 1961-1969 Baseball Guides
• Dominican League website
• Pura Pelota