Biography of Baseball Player Johan Santana

Johan Santana was born on March 13, 1979 in Tovar, Merida State, Venezuela. In 1995, he was signed by the Houston Astros as a free agent. Four years later, the Marlins selected him in the rule 5 draft. The Marlins then traded him to the Minnesota Twins where he has remained since the trade.

On April 3, 2000, Johan Santana made his Major League Baseball debut. He started his career as a long reliever before moving to the starting position that he has become famous for. Although he typically only throws three pitches, his mastery of the three has made him one of the best pitchers in baseball. His three pitches are a fastball, a slider, and a changeup.

After several years of pitching in a relief role, the Minnesota Twins decided to try Johan Santana out as a starter. After August of the 2003 season, he got his chance as a starter and went 8-0, earning him the right to pitch the first game in the playoffs for the Twins.

The beginning of the 2004 season verified that Johan Santana was ready to be a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. The second half of the 2004 season verified that he may be the best pitcher in baseball. During that second half of the season, he went 13-0, breaking the Major League record. He also had a 10 game starts streak in which he gave up four or fewer hits. He compiled 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, a 1.21 ERA, and only 4.74 hits per nine innings during his incredible run.

His incredible second half of the season helped spur him to a 20-6 overall record. Johan Santana led the American League during the 2004 season in strikeouts, ERA, strikeouts per 9 innings, batting average allowed, on base percentage allowed, slugging percentage allowed, and several other categories. His domination of the American League earned him the American League Cy Young Award in a landslide, in which he earned all 28 of the first place votes.

Johan Santana followed up his Cy Young winning year with another solid year in 2005. He finished the 2005 season with a 16-7 record and a 2.87 ERA, second lowest in the American League. He also finished third in the Cy Young Award voting.

Johan Santana has been named to the All-Star team twice, in 2005 and 2006. On June 13, 2006 he also collected his 1,000th career strikeout in a very short amount of time.