Just how much do fans love former Los Angeles Angels right handed starting pitcher Ervin Santana?
Beloved enough that he received 83% of the vote to become the 19th player enshrined in the MLB Hall of Pretty Good.
The Hall of Pretty Good is a social media network and player database run by Bryce Whitlow that aims to celebrate great players in baseball history that people wouldn’t consider to be traditional superstars or legends.
One thing that Whitlow does is hold votes twice a week where randomly selected players are up for a vote into an actual “Hall of Fame” style database. Players have to have less than a 35.0 bWAR, no Cy Youngs, no MVPs, must be retired or otherwise inactive and must not be in the actual Baseball Hall of Fame to be eligible.
But they obviously have to have amassed some other “pretty good” accolades to garner votes from fans. Fortunately for Santana, baseball fans remember his career pretty fondly.
Santana’s “Pretty Good” Resumé
Ervin Santana broke into the big leagues with the Angels back in 2005 and made an immediate impression.
In just his second big league game, Santana pitched a complete game shutout against the eventual 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox on May 23, 2005. It was also Santana’s first career win. He won 12 games that season.
Santana actually won 10+ games in five of his 8 seasons with the Angels.
His best season as a Halo was in 2008, when Santana was one of the best pitchers in baseball. He amassed a 16-7 record with a 3.49 ERA in 219 innings pitched. He was named to the American League All-Star team and even received Cy Young award votes.
Santana’s career highlight also came with the Angels. On July 27, 2011, Santana tossed a no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians (then called the Cleveland Indians). He racked up 10 strikeouts and allowed only two baserunners; the only Cleveland run that scored was unearned.
After Santana’s time with the Angels, he had two stints with the Kansas City Royals, a year each with the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox, and most famously, a stint with the Minnesota Twins from 2015-2018.
Santana had a resurgent year with Minnesota in 2017. He went 16-8, recorded a 3.29 ERA, and led all of baseball in complete games with 5 and complete game shutouts with 3. He received his second All-Star nod and Cy Young votes once again.
Are There Other Angels in the Hall of Pretty Good?
Maybe we should just call the Hall of Pretty Good the “Hall of Angels.”
Including Santana, 6 of the 19 members, or 32%, of the Hall of Pretty Good played for the Angels at one point.
That includes Kurt Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Scott Kazmir, Steve Cishek, Shane Victorino and Santana.
Out of this list, Santana’s time in an Angels uniform is the most memorable, as many of the others just had brief cameos as Angels. They’re more Angels Immaculate Grid legends than actual Angels legends.
But still. In the early days of the account, the path to the Hall of Pretty Good runs as much through Anaheim as anywhere else.
Angels fans, what is your favorite memory of Ervin Santana’s career?
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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