Johan Santana

He became the first pitcher since 1961 to give up four or fewer hits in 10 straight starts, and his 13–0 record broke the old Major League second-half mark shared between Burt Hooton and Rick Sutcliffe.

Santana's other second-half numbers were equally impressive: 11.13 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.21 ERA, 4.74 hits per nine innings, and 6.73 baserunners per nine innings.

In addition, Santana set a team season record with 265 strikeouts, surpassing the old 258 mark registered by Bert Blyleven in 1973.

Santana finished in good form with a 20–6 record and led the American League (AL) in strikeouts (265), ERA (2.61), strikeouts per nine innings pitched (10.46), WHIP (0.92), batting average allowed (.192), OBP (.249), SLG (.315), and OPS (.564) and walked only 54 batters in 228 innings.

Opponents stole just six bases in seven attempts against him, and his 20 victories ranked him second behind only Curt Schilling's 21.

He easily won the AL Cy Young Award with all 28 first-place votes.

Johan Alexander Santana Araque (born March 13, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball starting pitcher.

Santana was discovered in 1994 by Andres Reiner, who was a scout working for the Houston Astros at the time.

Santana's parents agreed to let him attend Houston's academy in Valencia.

When Astros scouting director Dan O'Brien called Reiner and asked if he had signed Santana to a contract, Reiner reported that he was still deciding if Santana was a better prospect as an outfielder or a pitcher.

After six weeks of training, Santana was told he was going to pitch.

Santana did not like it and almost left, but Reiner convinced him to stay.

While originally a center fielder, Santana was converted to a pitcher at the academy due to his arm speed.

In 1999 he was named the Tovar Mérida Athlete of the Year.

After the 1999 major league season, Santana was left unprotected by the Houston Astros and eligible in the Rule 5 draft.

The Minnesota Twins had the first pick that year, the Florida Marlins had the second.

The Twins made a deal with the Marlins: the Twins would draft Jared Camp with their first pick and the Marlins would draft Santana.

The teams would exchange the two players with the Twins receiving $50,000 to cover their pick.

Santana pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 2008 to 2012.

Santana made his Major League debut with the Twins on April 3, 2000, coming from the bullpen vs. Tampa Bay.

He made his first MLB start on April 7, 2000, at Kansas City and recorded his first Major League win in a relief appearance at Houston on June 6.

He put up a 6.49 ERA in 86 innings pitched in 2000, his rookie year.

In 2002, the Twins sent Santana to the minors for 2 months to work almost exclusively on perfecting his changeup.

He did this for 10 starts and came back up to the majors with a terrific changeup to complement his very good fastball.

While in the minors, pitching coach Bobby Cuellar made Santana throw at least one changeup to every batter.

According to Cuellar, Santana would sometimes throw 20 in a row during games.

Santana was used as a long reliever early in his career after finding little success as a starter.

In 2002, he led the majors in wild pitches, with 15.

In 2003, Santana transitioned from relief to the Twins' starting rotation after spending the first four months of the season in the bullpen.

He won his last eight decisions and pitched the ALDS opening game against the Yankees.

Due to Santana's early major-league success with the Twins, a young minor-league pitcher in the Anaheim Angels' farm system also named Johan Santana changed his name to Ervin Santana in 2003 and has also achieved major league success.

Santana underwent minor elbow surgery following the season.

In, Santana enjoyed one of the great second halves of modern times.

Santana struggled in his first outing of 2005, giving up four runs in the first inning, but quickly regained his composure and returned to Cy Young-winning form in an 8–4 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

In his second game, he recorded 11 strikeouts against the Chicago White Sox as the Twins won 5–2.

Santana finished the season with an ERA of 2.87, second-lowest in the AL behind Indians pitcher Kevin Millwood (2.86).

However, the weak Twins club of the 2005 season cost him several otherwise-winnable games, and his winning percentage fell considerably in his second full year as a starter.

He threw 238 strikeouts during the season, leading the majors, and finished third in the Cy Young voting, finishing behind winner Bartolo Colón and closer Mariano Rivera.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Twins, Santana is a four-time All-Star and earned a pitching triple crown in 2006.

On June 1, 2012, Santana pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets history against the St. Louis Cardinals.