Santos Amaro
From BR Bullpen
Santos Amaro (El Canguro)
- Bats Right, Throws Right.
[edit] Biographical information
Cuban outfielder Santos Amaro did not make his debut in the Mexican League until he was 31 years old but he would play 17 seasons in Mexico. He hit .316/~.371/.434 for the Veracruz Eagle and batted .345/~.387/.552 in limited action the next year for the Veracruz Blues.
Amaro then joined the Tampico Lightermen, where he played from 1941 through 1947 and part of 1948 (which he split with the Blues). Amaro hit .332/~.416/.443 in '41 (his 95 RBI were second to Josh Gibson), .347/~.426/.478 (with a league-high 12 triples) in '42, .328/~.397/.455 in '43, .320/~.396/.428 in '44 and .330/~.437/.420 in '45. At age 38 in 1946 and facing imported major-league and Negro League pitchers, Amaro slipped to .275/~.388/.345 but still outhit a fair number of the major leaguers playing in Mexico that year. Santos hit .341/~.420/.420, losing the batting title to a much younger Bobby Avila by only 5 points.
In his 40s, Amaro's production declined, but he still topped .300 twice and had an OBP around .460 in 1950 for the Eagle. He was with the Eagle from 1949-1955 and became a player-manager in 1951. He led the team to Mexican League titles as a manager in 1952 and 1961, 6 years after his last active playing duty.
While the Cuban-born Santos starred in Mexico, his Mexican-born son Ruben Amaro Sr. spent almost his entire career in the USA. Santos Amaro also was the grandfather of Ruben Amaro Jr. and David Amaro. On June 24, 1977 Santos Amaro was elected to the Salon de la Fama. When Ruben Sr. was voted in nine years later, they became the first father-son combination to be both inducted in the Salon.
