Who is FP Santangelo? Washington Nationals analyst, 53, taken off air after sexual assault claims by woman
Following complaints of improper acts, including sexual assault, analyst FP Santangelo, a former major-league infielder, has been removed from Washington Nationals broadcasts.
Santangelo has been on and off the air since April 30, and he was not on the team that called the Nationals' 4-3 extra-inning loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday, May 8. The allegations were posted on social media recently by an anonymous woman, the Daily Mail reported.
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Who is FP Santangelo?
Frank-Paul Santangelo, 53, is an American former professional baseball player who played Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2001 for the Montreal Expos, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics.
Santangelo attended Oak Ridge High School, Sacramento City College, and the University of Miami. He is a resident of El Dorado Hills, California. He played collegiate summer baseball for the Cape Cod Baseball League's Brewster Whitecaps in 1988 and was drafted in the 20th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos organization.
Working himself up through the minor leagues, he reached the AAA with the Indianapolis Indians in 1992. He joined the AAA Ottawa Lynx in 1993 and became the first player in Ottawa Lynx history to have his number, 24, retired. With 86 runs scored in the 1993 season, he holds the club record, according to Canada.com.
Santangelo made his Major League debut on August 2, 1995 as the starting left fielder against the Florida Marlins, where he was 2-for-3 with a run batted in (RBI) in his debut, according to Baseball-Reference. In his MLB career, Santangelo played in a total of 665 games with 415 hits, 21 home runs, and 162 RBIs. His career batting average was .245.
'There goes the no-hitter'
From 2006 to 2008, Santangelo co-hosted "The Rise Guys," a sports radio talk show on Sacramento's KHTK-1140 AM. He also worked as a reporter and fill-in game announcer for Giants broadcasts on CSN Bay Area and the Giants Radio Network. “Baseball is your escape,” he said to the North Virginia Magazine. “Why would you want to hear a broadcaster who is negative and critical? If you do, listen to sports talk radio, that’s what they do. That’s not what I do.”
As an announcer, Santangelo's trademark line is a reversal of the superstition of never mentioning a no-hitter when it is in progress. When the Nationals get their first hit of the game, Santangelo says flatly, "There goes the no-hitter." He explained in a 2018 Twitter post that his saying was a tribute to his former manager Felipe Alou, who as manager of the Expos always said it when the Expos got their first hit in-game.
Why I say “there goes the no-hitter” every night. A tribute to one of the biggest influences in my life https://t.co/u5TinV5lnA
— F.P. Santangelo (@FightinHydrant) April 17, 2018
In October, 2000, Santangelo purchased $1,400 worth of human growth hormone from Radomski, according to the 'Mitchell Report'. Furthermore, Kirk Radomski told Mitchell's investigators that while a member of the A's in 2001, Santangelo bought the steroid Deca-Durabolin, HGH, and testosterone "once or twice," ESPN reported.
Santangelo confirmed he used HGH on two occasions in 1997 and 2000 to rehab from a quadriceps and knee injury but denied the other allegations, including telling teammate Adam Piatt that Radomski "will get you what you need," according to the Sacramento Bee.
He married a Playmate of the Month
Santangelo has married twice, his second marriage being to Playboy Playmate Michelle McLaughlin. She was Playmate of the Month for February 2008, according to the Las Vegas Sun. “It’s hard to have a relationship when you’re home for seven days and gone for 10," he said to the North Virginia Magazine in a 2018 interview.
"A date here and there and that’s about it. Our lives are not conducive to relationships and when you’re married in this world, you have to work really hard at it," he said. “But the payoff is, for six months, I’m available," he added.
What are the allegations against Santangelo?
The anonymous woman, 31, told The Athletic that Santangelo made an 'unwanted advance' many years ago and she repeatedly told him to stop. He allegedly sexually abused her, she said, in complaints that were made in an Instagram post by the woman. She added that Santangelo allegedly sent her "angry text messages" and blocked her on social media.
The woman went on to say that she is not seeking charges or compensation, but that she only wanted to speak about her alleged encounter with the broadcaster because he is a well-known public figure.
According to the Daily Mail, the Nationals issued a statement over the weekend, which read: "Late last week, we were made aware of allegations of conduct by FP Santangelo that are inconsistent with our values as an organization," the Nationals said in a statement issued over the weekend. "We alerted the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and revoked our approval of him as a member of our broadcast team. MASN assured us that they would investigate these allegations thoroughly".
It added: "After MASN notified us that their investigation was complete and that FP should be reinstated, additional posts appeared. Once again, we notified MASN and revoked our approval of FP as a member of our broadcast team indefinitely. Moving forward, we will refer all questions regarding this investigation to FP's employer, MASN."
Santangelo denied the allegations in a text message response to media outlets. "What I have read in a recently published article from an anonymous individual about me is untrue and did not happen," Santangelo said. "This is not representative of who I am as a man or a professional. I am confident that my name and reputation will be fully cleared."