Santiago Heats Up a Comeback

Benito Santiago’s comeback is shaping up this week at Cashman Field, a couple of miles up the strip, out past the wedding chapel with the sign “Dynasty’s Joan Collins was married here” and on a field that was suffocating in one hundred and seven degree heat Tuesday during batting practice.

Santiago never noticed the heat in 1986, when he spent his only year in Las Vegas--the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate--leading the Stars to the Pacific Coast League title. He was too busy then, his mind focused squarely on advancing on to the major leagues, so much so that not much else mattered. But Tuesday, four years later, there he was, sitting in the air-conditioned Las Vegas clubhouse, away from the glare of the major league spotlight and, well, it was hot outside.

“Crazy weather here, you know?” he said. “When I played here in ‘86, it didn’t feel like it does now. You play four years in San Diego, that’s great.”

The keys to a rental car sat in his locker, which was fairly empty. In San Diego, Santiago’s locker is filled with pictures of his wife, Blanco, and his children, Benny Beth (four) and Benito Jr. (one). In Las Vegas, there are keys.

“I just want to go back to the big leagues,” he said. “I don’t want to hang around here so long.”

Not that he is all that unhappy. He is playing baseball again, he is seeing some players in Las Vegas whom he hasn’t seen in awhile, and his appearance here is a big deal. People line up outside the clubhouse after each game, waiting for his autograph. The media swarmed to his first game. He did three live interviews with local television that night, and Las Vegas first baseman Rob Nelson snuck up from behind and shoved a shaving cream pie in his face during one. They laughed.

But, there is a limit. This is a serious time, and Santiago is as serious as ever. He is coming back from a broken left arm, the first major injury of his professional career. It came on June 14, when San Francisco’s Jeff Brantley hit him with a pitch.

Nearly two months later, Santiago is in Las Vegas, putting his game together again. His left arm is fine. His right--throwing--arm is a bit sluggish. So is his swing. Still, he doesn’t figure to be here long.

He is planning to turn in those rental car keys on Thursday, when he will drive to the airport to catch a flight to Houston and rejoin the Padres.

Santiago sat down with Jack McKeon, Padre general manager, and Greg Riddoch, Padre manager, at the end of July and told them he could be back within a week. Originally, the plan was for Santiago to accompany the Padres on their current road trip and continue his rehabilitation. But when McKeon and Riddoch learned that Santiago thought his return was that close, the three decided he’d be better off rehabilitating in Las Vegas in game conditions.

So, basically, he is going through his second spring training of the year. The first one, in Yuma, came after a rigorous winter of work.

“I was ready to go at the start of the season,” Santiago said.

And he was. By June 14, he had nine homers, 33 runs-batted-in, and he was batting .317.

“I was right there in everything--runs, home runs, average, runs scored, behind the plate, everything,” Santiago said.

Then came the injury.

It was obvious that Santiago was hurt badly. He intended to charge the mound after he was hit, but the searing pain took the charge out of his legs and caused his body to go limp. He laid on the ground, and X-rays would soon rule him out. All he could do was sit and watch, and seethe inside.

He said he spoke briefly with Brantley at the All-Star game July 10th in Chicago.

“He give me all kinds of excuses,” Santiago said. “He told me he felt sorry because of that. I just listened to him. I don’t talk much, I told him OK, it’s over with.”

The Padres were six games out and three over .500 (30-27) when Santiago went down, but have gone 20-31 since that day. Santiago doesn’t like to talk about that, because it involves complimenting himself. He prefers to let the accolades come from others.

Besides, it mostly ate away at him when all he could do was sit and fidget. He couldn’t bear to watch an entire Padre game. Instead, he would spend time talking to his wife and playing with his kids. Now, he has been cleared to go back to work, and his mind is on other things.

The biggest thing right now is his timing, both at the plate and behind the plate. He needs to see some pitches and also loosen the kinks in his throwing arm. The tough thing about a broken arm is, you can’t play catch. So his right arm suffered from inactivity while his left was in a cast. In fact, in Santiago’s mind, that’s the biggest thing holding up his return to the Padres--his right arm, not his left.

“Kind of funny, huh?,” he said, smiling. “Believe it or not. . . . That’s good, though, because I know my arm will be ready in a couple of days. If it was (the left) one, it would bother me because it might be longer than that.”

Said Las Vegas Manager Pat Kelly: “The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that he’s not in good shape. The first night, he was tired after five innings. And his throwing arm is not completely ready.”

Santiago reported to Las Vegas last Thursday and, in his first four games--entering Tuesday’s game--was batting .308 (four for 13) with two RBIs. Tuesday, he had a grand slam and a run-scoring single.

Santiago is happy with his progress and said he is doing better than he expected. The biggest problem came Thursday, in his first game. Benito Santiago, All-Star catcher, was nervous.

“I knew I was going to be scared,” he said. “The first day, you always try to be perfect. I tried to relax and I couldn’t do it.

“What really got in my mind was, is it going to be all right, or not? Will there be pain? There was no pain. That made me feel a lot better.”

He wears a brace on his left forearm, just in case. He also wears uniform No. 33 on his back--Paul Faries already had No. 9--and a relatively new flattop haircut.

And he waits, two more days now, until he returns to the Padres. He bats, he throws, he tries not to let the heat drive him nuts.

“It’s bad,” he said. “But it’s a fun city, you know? It’s nice.”

He played the slot machines for the first time this year last Saturday and won about $125 on the dollar slots.

He laughed at the thought, thinking back to his year here in 1986.

“When you don’t got no money, you win nothing,” he said. “Now that I got a little bit of money, I win. It’s crazy.”

Crazy, like a few minutes earlier when he sat with a smile on his face despite the fact that his left wrist was wrapped inside a bulky pack of ice and an ace bandage. His right shoulder was also wrapped. It didn’t matter.

“I’m real close,” he said. “I’m real happy.”