9. Benito Santiago, Catcher, San Francisco Giants
From the late eighties to early nineties, Benito Santiago established himself as one of the game’s top backstops with the Padres by taking home Rookie of the Year honors, collecting four Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves and making four straight All-Star teams from 1989-92.
After Santiago’s San Diego success, he soon digressed into a career journeyman with stints in Florida, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Toronto and Chicago. However, Santiago (curiously) enjoyed a career renaissance upon arriving in San Francisco in 2001, this coming after he recored a -0.2 WAR with the Reds in 2000.
Batting in the crucial five spot behind Barry Bonds in the 2002 NLCS against St. Louis, Santiago took advantage of hitting behind the feared slugger by recording a .300 average with two home runs and six RBIs. The highlight of the Series for Santiago came when he belted a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that would prove to be the game winner off of the Cardinals’ Rick White, following an intentional walk to Bonds. Santiago’s out of nowhere resurgence lands him at number 9 on the list.
About Steve Fiorentine