Ruben Santana (minors02)

Ruben Ernesto Santana

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.
• Born March 2, 1970 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical information

Ruben Santana is a former minor league baseball second baseman who played from 1990 to 1996 in the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds farm systems. He played in independent ball and internationally from 1997 to 2001.

Signed as an amateur free agent on July 8, 1989, his stateside career began the next season. In 1990, he spent time with two teams - the Peninsula Pilots and Bellingham Mariners, hitting a combined .237 with sixteen stolen bases, four home runs and 18 RBI in 235 at-bats.

With the San Bernardino Spirit in 1991, Santana hit .302 with 34 stolen bases, three home runs and 43 RBI. He also spent five games with the Jacksonville Suns, hitting .200 in 15 at-bats. Overall, he hit .298 in 409 at-bats.

Santana spent the entire 1992 season with the Pilots, where he hit .294 with 17 stolen bases, eight home runs and 61 RBI. He had a career year in 1993, hitting .301 with 21 home runs, 84 RBI and 17 steals for the Suns. He was named the the All-Star team that season.

In 1994, Santana's power slumped and he hit only seven home runs for the Suns. However, he did hit .295 with 68 RBI and 10 steals as well.

In an unknown transaction, he wound up in the Reds organization, where he hit .293 with 11 home runs, 79 RBI and a career-low two stolen bases for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1995. He finished up his career in Organized Baseball with the Lookouts and Indianapolis Indians in 1996, where he hit a combined .300 with eight home runs, 58 RBI and five stolen bases.

Overall, Santana hit .292 with 63 home runs, 414 RBI and 97 steals in his seven year affiliated career. Following that, he went on to play independent baseball and overseas. In 1997, he hit .312/.348/.448 for the China Times Eagles. In 1999, he hit .322 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI for the Adirondack Lumberjacks of the Northern League, earning a spot on the All-Star team.

Following playing ball in America, he played in the Serie A1 in Italy. For the Fortitudo Bologna in 2000, he hit .371 with 14 home runs and 44 RBI in 178 at-bats. In 2001, he hit .362 with 11 home runs and 52 RBI in 221 at-bats for them.

He is also listed as having played in the Chicago Cubs system in 1988.

He was a Southern League All-Star in 1993 and a Northern League All-Star in 1999.