Nickname: El Gocho
Introduction
Johan Santana is probably the most disrespected athlete on this list. He had a great pitching peak and almost won three straight Cy Young awards from the 2004 to the 2006 season. Many believe that had he won three straight and not just in 2004 and 2006, his Hall of Fame case may have been stronger. Nonetheless though, the criticisms around him are that his longevity just do not meet the minimum requirements to be placed in Cooperstown. #$!& that. This guy was a dog.
Why He Should Be Remembered
In MLB history, only eleven pitchers have won three Cy Young awards. Of these eleven, only three aren’t in the Hall of Fame. Two of those three aren’t in because they are still active players: Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. The other one did PEDs and that’s a big no-no: Roger Clemens. Santana, the man that was nicknamed “El Gocho” by his people in Venezuela (pretty sure that means cowboy, but it could also mean hillbilly. I don’t really understand this nickname to be honest with you), was one season away from joining this elite pitching group. Starting out as a reliever early on in his career, it was’t until the 2003 season, his fourth year in The Show with the Minnesota Twins, when he became a starter. The next season, 2004, is when El Gocho (let’s just assume that this means cowboy because it sounds cooler) won his first Cy Young award. He led the American League in strikeouts (265), ERA (2.61), WHIP (0.92), and batting average allowed (.192) to finish the year with a 20-6 record. Santana got off to a slow start in 2005, but got hot towards the end of the year and ended up finishing third in the Cy Young voting behind Bartolo Colon and Mariano Rivera. The thought process behind this race was that Colon’s 21 wins that year carried more weight than Santana’s 3.48 ERA and his 3.2 WAR advantage over Colon (complete BS, but whatever). In 2006 however, Santana dominated and won the Pitching Triple Crown with 19 wins, a 2.77 ERA, and 245 strikeouts. He again led the AL in WAR (7.5) making it the third straight year that he’s done that.
Why He Is Not Remembered
While Santana did have a dominant stretch, his peak (2003-2008) did not really last as one might of hoped. After his time with the Twins was done, he was traded to the New York Mets for the 2008 season. This is where El Gocho experienced some mileage on that left arm and the 2009 and 2010 seasons both saw him end the years with an injury. While he did return for the 2012 season and actually pitched the Mets first no-hitter in franchise history (I should of put this up there in the first section), this would prove to be the last highlight of his career. It’s honestly kind of sad to see how things turned out for Santana. A quick one and done year in which he received 2.4 percent of votes on the Hall of Fame ballot (five percent is required to remain) and you pretty much have Johan Santana’s career. I think things would have gone differently if he was that Cy Young in 2005. Maybe he would still have some injury trouble, but I mean he was basically laughed off of the ballot and that just feels wrong to me.
Where He Is Now
Currently, it sounds like Santana is just sticking around the game, giving tips here and there to future and current Minnesota Twins pitchers. From what I can find, he has no real position with the major or minor league affiliated team, but he lives in the area of the facilities, so he just pokes his head in now and again. I mean I think he’s earned that right and I’m sure as soon as he strolls in and drops a quick gem to a young Twins pitcher, they listen. I kind of have that same level of aura too, whenever I walk into my local Subway. No it’s the same, stop rolling your eyes.
