The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Backstory and history of a particular player- make them come to life!
User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by HoosierVic » Wed Jun 19, 2019 12:30 pm

By Beauregard Sawyer IV
The Huntsville Times
2039-01-28

He pauses at the gate leading from the box seats out the field, drinking in the unnatural emerald perfection of the artificial grass, the right field grandstands that hug the field close, and the manually-operated scoreboard that evokes baseball of ages long past.

Resurrection Santos has never been here before, and yet he seems perfectly at home … with everything but the field turf.

“Why would you ruin a beautiful park like this with phony grass?” he sniffs, the barest hint of Spanish inflection warming his speech.

I step to one side and hold open the gate, allowing him to step onto the dirt that outlines foul territory down the first base line.

“It’s cheap to maintain, would be my guess,” I say.

Santos shakes his head.

Image
Resurrection Santos
“A baseball field is a park,” he says. “It deserves real grass. Spend the money and treat your field like the diamond it is. You know what Dick Allen – the old MLB player – used to say about artificial turf: ‘If a cow can’t eat it, I won’t play on it.’”

Even at age 64, with his trademark shock of jet black hair peppered with streaks of gray, Resurrection Santos still looks every inch a ballplayer. His body is lean, and dressed in beige chinos and a classic Chicago Black Sox warm-up jacket, he’s a commanding figure as he strides towards the infield.

I quickly close the gate to the field, leaving behind the media assistant who’s been assigned to tail us. The young woman scowls as I scurry after Santos, then she pulls open the gate herself and follows.

Damn, I think. She can’t take a hint, can she?

A youngster no more

As Santos nears the pitcher’s mound, I notice for the first time that he walks with a slight limp, which he acknowledges with a rueful grin.

“You know, in my mind’s eye, I’m still a 19-year-old rookie,” he says. “But my legs, they tell me another story. They tell me I’m an old man.”

It’s hard, though, to think of Santos that way.

For anyone who watched him prowl center field for the Chicago Black Sox in the 1990s, he is frozen in memory as a graceful fielder and fierce slugger who seemed destined to rewrite the record books of the Brewster Baseball Association.

The reason he never fulfilled that destiny lies in his halting steps, though: a series of leg and ankle injuries that gradually robbed him of the sublime speed and effortless swing that made him a force of nature on the baseball diamond.

But the pain-filled decade of decline that made up the second half of Santos’ career is not why he’s in Huntsville this weekend. He’s here to celebrate the incandescent burn of his early years, the .315 Black Sox career batting average, the 1998 Sawyer Silk MVP trophy, and the four consecutive All-Star games that moved his old franchise to honor him with a plaque in its new Hall of Honor.
Image
He joins Tom Madonald, the legendary pitcher who won Steve Nebraska awards for the Black Sox in 2012 and 2015.

With the temperature in the mid-50s and the sun moving towards the top of the right field stands, it seems a fit afternoon to spend at the ballpark, even though the calendar reads late January. Santos shades his eyes and peers towards the right field corner and its inviting short porch.

“What I wouldn’t have given to be a left-handed hitter and played all my home games here,” he says. “What is it down that right field line – 330 feet? That’s home run heaven right there.”

Santos turns slowly, relishing the view of the outfield, the third base line, and finally home plate. He sighs softly and then begins a leisurely stroll back towards the box seats, nodding at the team media assistant awaiting us.

“It was nice of the Phantoms to let us come out here for the interview today,” Santos says, waiting for the young woman to open the gate back to the stands. He picks a seat in the third row and sits down. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a big-league field.”

I take a seat next to him. “Do you miss it?” I ask.

“Every day. Oh, I don’t miss the aches and pains of the long grind, but I do miss the … oh, what’s the phrase? Old age really is a bitch, is it not? … cat. Cat and mouse. I miss the cat and mouse with the pitchers.”

Ken Howell … when he was with Washington used to tie me in knots,” Santos says with a laugh.

“He had a changeup that was just impossible to hit. Leaving his hand it looked just like his fastball, so I would swing about an hour early. I could walk back to the dugout, put my bat away, and take a drink from water cooler by the time that damn thing actually crossed the plate. A crazy good pitch.”

The significance behind a name

Then comes the question everyone asks, the one he usually brushes off with a well-rehearsed answer.

The name. Why “Resurrection?”

Santos sighs a little, but answers genially enough.

“My mother, Rosa,” he says simply. “She was a very religious lady, and she wanted to honor her religion.”

But, I press, many mothers use Biblical names - John, or Mark, or Joseph, or something along those lines. This, however, is a very striking name with a very specific meaning. Does she ever talk about how she came to choose it?

Santos purses his lips and looks away, out towards the mammoth orange scoreboard out beyond center field. I can see he’s wrestling with how to answer, then he shrugs and looks me in the eye.

“My mother, she was young when she had me,” he says quietly. “She was … not married. That was not done in her family, and even though she was living in New York … the big city … the neighborhood where she lived was small, tight knit, and she was an outcast.

“So, when she had me, she was afraid her life was over – she told me this many times. She turned to her faith, and she prayed every night that she could have a new life … and so, when I was born, she named me Resurrection. I was the symbol of her hope that she could start again and have a new life out of the ashes of the old.

“And, you can see, her hopes were not in vain.”

I nod solemnly, realizing this is the first time he has told this story to a reporter – maybe the first time he has told it to anyone outside his family.

I struggle for a follow-up question, and seize on something I’d read in an old BBA Weekly feature about his early days with the Black Sox. "Is it true," I ask, "that you wouldn’t let your friends or teammates shorten your name to Res or Ressie as a nickname?"

“That is true,” Santos says with a wry smile. “That did not please some of the guys, who thought Resurrection was … a mouthful, you could say. But I told them my momma Rosa had not named me Res, so out of respect to her, please use my full name.

“Of course, I was hitting about .350 at the time, so they listened to me. If I had been hitting .230, who knows?”

New York or Ensenada?

"One other thing I was wondering about," I say. "Some of the old Black Sox statistical guides list your birthplace as Ensenada, Mexico, but everything else says you’re from New York City. What happened there?"

Santos snorts with laughter.

“That was the result of a very thick-headed public relations intern with the Black Sox,” he says. “He asked me where my family was from, and I told him, originally, they were from Ensenada – which is true. That’s where my mother’s grandparents were born, before they came to the States.

Image
“But my intern friend never asked any more about it, and I was young and stupid and didn’t add anything else. I can tell you, that little media guide mishap has caused no small amount of trouble for me over the years – when we would visit other ballparks, the fans would yell that I was illegal. Some media outlets picked that up … it was a pain in the neck.”

"So, that followed you around for awhile," I say.

“It still does,” Santos answers. “You just asked about it, did you not?”

True enough, I concede, and then turn to a safer topic.

A son’s debt to his mother

"You have said many times that you owe your baseball career to your mother," I say. "Talk a little about that."

Santos leans back and drapes an arm across the seatback next to him, seemingly at ease with the direction of the conversation now.

“My mother, Rosa … she did not know anything about baseball – had never played it, I don’t think she had ever even watched it,” he says. “Futbol … soccer … was the game she played as a kid.

“But I played baseball after school with some of the kids in the neighborhood, and realized I could hit, so that became my game. My mom saved up and bought us both gloves … used gloves … and she would take me out and play catch. My god, she was terrible! But she didn’t care – she wanted me to practice.

“And later, she would walk me to over to the ballfield at the school near our house, before she left for work and make sure the coaches would get me home. And at the games … my lord, at the games … she cheered louder than whole sections. She was my biggest fan, always.”

She never wanted you to stop wasting time on a game and do your homework or get a job?

“Never. Well, she insisted I do my homework … but my mother knew that baseball might be my best hope at a better life, and she moved heaven and earth to make it possible. When I got discouraged, she would pick me back up. When I needed someone to throw with, she was there.
Image
Rosa Santos

“I owe her everything.”

The next question slips out before I even think about it: "You took her last name, not your father’s, right?"

“Of course,” Santos says, his eyes flashing fire. “My father is not a part of my life, has never been a part of my life. Once, when I was going good with the Black Sox, he tried to contact me, and I shut it down. This man left his girlfriend pregnant, let her have me alone, let her raise me alone, and then wants to be part of my life because I am famous.

“No,” he says, slapping the seat back next him. “No man who’s worth calling a man does those things.”

The legacy of Resurrection Santos

Again, I steer the conversation to safer ground.

"What," I ask, "is your most vivid memory as a player?"

“September 1st, 1998,” he answers quickly. “We were playing Omaha, and I hit three home runs that day – two of them were off Lance Dickson and the third was off James Henderson. The crowd was going crazy – hell, I was going crazy. I will never forget the noise and the feeling of circling the bases after that last home run.

“It was like magic!”

"And," I follow up, "your proudest moment?"

Santos doesn’t hesitate here, either.

“The day I called my mother and told her I had bought her a new house, and that she would never again have to go work in someone else’s home to support herself. I bought her a nice house in Hinsdale, a suburb of Chicago, and she lived there until she died a few years ago. For all the hits and all the victories and all the awards, that was my best moment in baseball.”

Behind me, I sense the media assistant signaling Santos that time is running short, and he begins to stand up. As he does, I fire off one last question.

"So, Mr. Santos … Resurrection … how do you hope your fans remember you as you enter the Hall of Honor? What do you want your legacy to be?”

“That, my friend, is simple,” he says with a warm smile as he mounts the concrete steps towards the exit, favoring his bum ankle a bit.

“I want to be remembered as the son of Rosa Santos, no more and no less.”
Last edited by HoosierVic on Wed Jun 19, 2019 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jleddy
Ex-GM
Posts: 3216
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 5:46 pm
Location: Long Beach, CA
Has thanked: 3377 times
Been thanked: 1174 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by jleddy » Wed Jun 19, 2019 12:37 pm

Nearly brought a tear to my eye. That was so damn good.
"My $#!? doesn't work in the playoffs." - Billy Beane Joe Lederer

User avatar
shoeless.db
BBA GM
Posts: 2316
Joined: Wed May 29, 2019 10:25 pm
Has thanked: 1821 times
Been thanked: 1090 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by shoeless.db » Wed Jun 19, 2019 3:56 pm

This was great. I'm really glad I stumbled upon this league, because stuff like this makes it all worthwhile. I gave up writing almost entirely after I left college 18 years ago. I just didn't have a reason to put pen to paper. No longer were there deadlines to hit for the local Tribune. No longer were there assignments from creative writing instructors. Life got busy -- kids, careers, house projects. I forgot how fun it could be to create.

The world built by pieces like this is alive. Good work.
Sacramento Mad Popes (unretired)
-- Vic Caleca Team News Award Winner 2052
-- BBA Champion 2053
-- Pacific Champs 2040, 2042, 2043, 2047, 2048, 2049, 2051, 2053, 2054
Life is a bit more beautiful when time is measured by the half inning rather than the half hour.

bschr682
Ex-GM
Posts: 8038
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:24 am
Has thanked: 306 times
Been thanked: 383 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by bschr682 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:16 pm

He was a hell of a player back in the day. I nearly traded for him several times...
GM Vancouver Mounties

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19809
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1981 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by RonCo » Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:19 pm

Bravo, man...
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
JimBob2232
BBA GM
Posts: 3657
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 12:54 pm
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 222 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by JimBob2232 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:01 pm

What a disappointment in New Orleans though...

User avatar
JimBob2232
BBA GM
Posts: 3657
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 12:54 pm
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 222 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by JimBob2232 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:08 pm


User avatar
recte44
GB: Commissioner
Posts: 43001
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:14 pm
Location: Oconomowoc, WI
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 1608 times
Contact:

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by recte44 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:41 pm

This needs to be in the Media Guide.

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19809
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1981 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by RonCo » Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:20 pm

I'm actually thinking of going back and collecting up a bunch of these player profiles to put in a stand-alone publication.
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by HoosierVic » Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:36 pm

JimBob2232 wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:01 pm
What a disappointment in New Orleans though...
Yeah - Santos was like the BBA's version of Dale Murphy, sailing along with HOF numbers, and then just fell off a cliff. Too much etoufee in the Big Easy, perhaps?


And thanks for the kind comments, everyone. The chance to do stuff like this was the main thing that drew me to the Brewster. Clearly, it was not to show off my brilliance as a GM ...

User avatar
recte44
GB: Commissioner
Posts: 43001
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:14 pm
Location: Oconomowoc, WI
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 1608 times
Contact:

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by recte44 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:20 pm

RonCo wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:20 pm
I'm actually thinking of going back and collecting up a bunch of these player profiles to put in a stand-alone publication.
Time for a Brewster book, Ron? :) 75th Anniversary right around the corner./

jleddy
Ex-GM
Posts: 3216
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 5:46 pm
Location: Long Beach, CA
Has thanked: 3377 times
Been thanked: 1174 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by jleddy » Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:29 pm

"My $#!? doesn't work in the playoffs." - Billy Beane Joe Lederer

felipe
Ex-GM
Posts: 4560
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:21 am
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 81 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by felipe » Thu Jun 20, 2019 5:00 am

I would like a book

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19809
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1981 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by RonCo » Thu Jun 20, 2019 10:05 am

recte44 wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:20 pm
RonCo wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:20 pm
I'm actually thinking of going back and collecting up a bunch of these player profiles to put in a stand-alone publication.
Time for a Brewster book, Ron? :) 75th Anniversary right around the corner./
Joe got me thinking about this in the GM's Corner we taped, but the digital tape vanished into the ether...so no we'll never know what was said. :)
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
recte44
GB: Commissioner
Posts: 43001
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:14 pm
Location: Oconomowoc, WI
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 1608 times
Contact:

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by recte44 » Thu Jun 20, 2019 10:52 am

Hmmm

User avatar
aaronweiner
BBA GM
Posts: 12020
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:56 pm
Has thanked: 50 times
Been thanked: 761 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by aaronweiner » Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:10 pm

According to his player card, Santos could be my starting right fielder at 64 years old.

User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

Re: The Legacy of Resurrection Santos

Post by HoosierVic » Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:44 pm

aaronweiner wrote:
Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:10 pm
According to his player card, Santos could be my starting right fielder at 64 years old.
Well, he's still pretty spry ... and he can supply his own warmup jacket!

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Player Spotlights”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests