Mario Santana

Mario Ivan Santana

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.

• Born May 23, 1976 in Santa Barbara, Chihuahua MEX

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Biographical Information

Catcher Mario Santana had a very long professional career, all of it in the Mexican League and the Mexican Pacific League. He first played as a 20-year-old for the Sultanes de Monterrey in 1996, and made his last appearances in 2017 for the Acereros de Monclova, at age 41.

While full statistics are not readily available for the early seasons of his career, he was typically a middling offensive player with little power but an excellent defender. He moved around a lot, as is typical of the Mexican League, with his main other team, in addition to Monterrey, being the Olmecas de Tabasco. He never reached double figures in homers and topped out at 22 doubles but did top the .300 mark a couple of times. The highlight of his career came on April 7, 2011 when he went 5 for 5 for Tabasco in a game in which they collected 30 hits (and not a single homer) in a 17-4 beatdown of the Saraperos de Saltillo. He hit .302 in 93 games that year, with 5 homers and 51 RBIs, in one of his best offensive showings overall.

In winter ball, he played many years with the Cañeros de Los Mochis, and later in his career with the Venados de Mazatlan and Naranjeros de Hermosillo. While his Monterrey team won a Mexican League championship in his first season - 1996 - he does not appear to have played for another pennant winner at any other time in his long career. He played with the Mexican national team on a number of occasions. In the 2003 Pan American Games, he led all players in the tournament by batting .571 in leading Mexico to a bronze medal. He was also with the team at the 2011 Pan American Games, where he started ahead of Alí Solís in the bronze medal game - which Mexico lost to Cuba; he was 0 for 5 overall but threw out the only runner who tried to steal.