One of the most beloved Minnesota Twins of the last quarter century is set to receive one of the highest honors a player can hope to achieve in his career. Santana played 13 years in the majors but spent the eight best seasons of his career in Minnesota as one of the best pitchers in franchise history.
He’s a two-time Cy Young winner, a Triple Crown and Gold Glove winner, a four time All-Star and led baseball in ERA in three separate years. Santana was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame back in 2018 and will be getting another Hall of Fame honor.
According to Hector Gomez, Santana is joining a jam-packed class for this year’s Latin Baseball Hall of Fame.
Johan Santana to be inducted into Latin Baseball Hall of Fame
Not only is Santana going to be inducted into the Latin Baseball Hall of Fame, but he’s going to be joined by a stacked ticket. Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, and fellow ace Felix Hernandez are all part of the class joining the Twins legend in being honored this year.
“Johan Santana and his family are already in Punta Cana, DR, where tomorrow he will be inducted into the Latin Baseball Hall of Fame along with Alex Rodriguez, Andruw Jones, Alfonso Soriano and Felix Hernandez,” Gomez reported.
It’s not Cooperstown, but it’s the next best thing and serves as a reminder of just how good Santana was at the peak of his powers. He was by far the best pitcher in baseball during his height and the two Cy Young Awards he won while with the Twins remains one of the most impressive feats a player has accomplished in team history.
Not only that, but it’s another reason for fans to get nostalgic about how amazing those 2000s teams were. Things are bleak now, but we once lived in a world where the Twins had Santana winning Cy Young Awards and both Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer collecting MVP hardware, all while surging back into national prominence so soon after the team was nearly contracted.
Santana’s prospects of making it to Cooperstown are slim, but getting the honor in Latin America has to mean the world to him. We’ve seen how prideful he is about his heritage, something the shared with Pablo Lopez after returning to Target Field fo the AL Wild Card game last year, and it’s impossible to not get a little teary eyed thinking about what an incredible honor this is for one of the best Twins players to have ever played.
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