Bradenton is The Latest Stop In Santos' Cross-Country Baseball Journey

Whether it’s at second base or in the outfield, Adalberto Santos appears to have found a home with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Currently in his full season of professional baseball with the Bradenton Marauders of the Class-A Advanced Florida State League, the 23-year-old Santos has crisscrossed the country in pursuit of his dream — a dream fostered by his Bronx upbringing and his mother’s love for the New York Yankees.

“I was always a Yankee fan,” Santos said. “When the Yankee games were on, my mom had her recliner right in front of the TV. We would always watch the games and have friends over. She would cook. Just a die-hard Yankee fan.” 

Growing up 15 minutes from the old Yankee Stadium, Santos started high school at the all-boys St. Agnes High School on Manhattan’s upper west side. His first day of high school came on Sept. 10, 2001.

Everyone knows the horrific events that coincided with Santos’ second day of high school.

“Just a crazy day,” Santos said. “A lot of kids went home (but) since I lived in the Bronx my mom couldn’t get me because everything was shut off to the island. You couldn’t leave or get to Manhattan. My brother-in-law actually worked in a stock exchange two buildings down from the World Trade Center. When he was going to work, that’s when the second building fell. He ran into a Bank of America building and got covered in debris. He walked about five hours to come get me down in the west side.”

Santos transferred to a school closer to home his sophomore year and spent his junior and senior years at James Monroe High School, which has a baseball tradition that dates back to legendary Detroit Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg. After a year at Louisburg Junior College in North Carolina, Santos reunited with some former high school teammates bound for Hobbs, N.M., and New Mexico Junior College.

A former high school All-American, Santos earned junior college All-America honors after leading the country with a .520 average in the spring of 2007. He also had an on-base percentage of .570 and a slugging percentage of .861.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Santos in the 17th round of the First-Year Player Draft in June 2007, but injury prevented him from signing a contract. The now 5-foot-11, 185-pound Santos was playing the wooden bat Valley League and unsure of his next destination when he received a phone call from Oregon State.

“I talked to (Oregon State) for a little bit and thought that I was dreaming because I had just seen them win the World Series,” Santos said. “I talked to them a little bit more throughout the week and they sent me a scholarship, so I went to play at Oregon State.”

Oregon State converted the lifelong infielder to center field. In his first season against NCAA Division competition in 2009, Santos garnered honorable mention All-Pac 10 honors after batting .320 with six doubles, two triples, four home runs and 43 RBI.

Those numbers were good enough to warrant a call from the San Diego Padres in the 35th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, but Santos was set on returning to Oregon State.

“I wanted to finish up some classes that I needed to get and wanted to enjoy my senior year,” Santos said. “It was a good school with a good baseball program that gave me a chance to better prepare myself for the minor leagues.”

Although a few classes stood in the way of a sociology degree he intends to finish, Santos couldn’t say no when the Pirates selected him in the 22nd round of last year’s draft. Playing all three outfield positions for the State College (Pa.) Spikes of the New York-Penn League, Santos earned league All-Star honors and league Player of the Week honors for the week of Aug. 23-29, 2010.

Ranking fifth and eighth, respectively, in the New York-Penn League in on-base percentage and batting average, Santos drove in 35 runs, scored 45 runs and stole 17 bases in 63 games for the Spikes. Having bypassed the low Class-A level entirely, Santos has played mostly in the outfield for the Marauders this season.

There is talk within the organization of moving Santos back to second base, but he doesn’t mind showing off his versatility as long as it helps the Marauders win games and helps his progression to the next level.

“Just transitioning back and forth,” said Santos, who has batted .290 in 22 games for Bradenton. “The way I see it the more positions you play the more opportunities you’re going to get. I just have to keep working hard.”