Ramón Santiago
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This article is missing information about early life. This concern has been noted on the talk page where whether or not to include such information may be discussed. (January 2011) |
| Ramón Santiago | |
|---|---|
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| Detroit Tigers – No. 39 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: August 31, 1979 Las Matas de Farfán, Dominican Republic |
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| Bats: Switch | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| May 17, 2002 for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Career statistics (through 2011) |
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| Batting average | .249 |
| Home runs | 25 |
| Runs batted in | 166 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
Ramón D. Santiago (born August 31, 1979) is a Dominican Republic professional baseball shortstop with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. He has spent most of his major league career at shortstop, but has also played a significant amount of time at second base. Santiago played for the Detroit Tigers from 2002 to 2003, the Seattle Mariners from 2004 to 2005, and again with the Tigers starting in 2006.
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[edit] Detroit Tigers
Santiago made his major league debut for the Tigers in 2002. Used mainly as a backup, he was still named to the 2002 Topps All-Star Rookie Roster. During his rookie season, Santiago hit 1st-inning lead-off home runs on consecutive days (June 3, 2002[1] and June 4, 2002[2]). In the June 3 game, he hit a second home run in the 7th inning.
In 2003, Santiago assumed the starting shortstop role for the Tigers. However, Santiago struggled and was traded, along with Juan Gonzalez, to Seattle in exchange for Carlos Guillén.
After playing in the Seattle organization in 2004 and 2005, Santiago was released and re-signed by the Tigers as a free agent for the 2006 season.
One of the best fielding shortstops in the majors, Santiago played in 43 regular-season games and started in 18 games for the American League Champion Tigers in 2006. He played shortstop, second base and third base and did not make an error in 205⅔ innings of play. Santiago started at shortstop in Game 1 and Game 2 of the 2006 World Series.
Ramon played for the Cibao Gigantes in the Dominican Winter League in 2009 and 2010. He led the team to a second-place finish in the Dominican Winter League Championships in 2010 and was asked to play shortstop for the Escogido Leones on Team Dominicana in the 2010 Caribbean World Series, which the Dominican won as Santiago hit .316 at the plate.
During the Tigers run to the 2011 American League Central Division championship, Ramon played in 101 games, mostly at second base, and hit .260. His season highlights included a walk-off home run on August 30, which gave the Tigers a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the bottom of the 10th inning. He also drove in the winning run with a walk-off triple in a June 13 game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
[edit] Seattle Mariners
During Santiago's two seasons with the Mariners, he played in only 27 games, spending most of his time in the minor leagues for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. While playing for the Rainiers, Santiago was selected as the team's MVP[3] and Best Glove in 2005. He was also selected as the 2005 Top Second Baseman for the Triple-A Pacific Coast League[4]. However, Santiago was released following the 2005 season.
[edit] References
- ^ "June 3, 2002 Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference. http://ramon-santiago.com/page2/page2.html. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
- ^ "June 4, 2002 Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET200206040.shtml. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
- ^ "Santiago signs with Tigers in Minors". ]. http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20060104&content_id=1291465&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det&affiliateId=CommentWidget. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ "About Ramon". ]. http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20060104&content_id=1291465&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det&affiliateId=CommentWidget. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Detroit Tigers players
- Seattle Mariners players
- Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic
- Major League Baseball second basemen
- Major League Baseball shortstops
- Gulf Coast Tigers players
- Oneonta Tigers players
- West Michigan Whitecaps players
- Lakeland Tigers players
- Erie SeaWolves players
- Toledo Mud Hens players
- Tacoma Rainiers players
