The decision to forego his senior year and sign with the Mets was incredibly difficult, Santomauro said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"It came down to answering Why would I go back?'" he said. "The reason would have been to play with my teammates another year, but after weighing the pros and cons and realizing I could see my teammates all the time, the positives [of signing with the Mets] outweighed the negatives."
Santomauro said his strong relationship with his teammates, however, was very nearly a dealbreaker.
"[My teammates] mean the world to me," he said. "That was the main reason I had a decision whether to sign or not. Just being in the locker room with those guys is something I'm going to remember for the rest of my life."
Although he is currently in the middle of a two-month, 80-game season with the Cyclones, Santomauro said he plans to return to Dartmouth during the fall of 2009 and winter and fall of 2010 in order to complete his graduation requirements. Santomauro will not be able to play baseball for Dartmouth, however, as he forfeited his NCAA eligibility by signing with a professional team.
Santomauro decided to sign with the Mets in hopes of eventually reaching the major leagues, he said.
"I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me and I'm definitely willing to do what it takes," Santomauro said.
A three-time All-Ivy First Team selection, Santomauro holds a number of College baseball records, including the most single-season home runs and single-season games played, and the third-highest career batting average, at .376.
After he helped lead Dartmouth to the Ivy League Championship in 2009, Santomauro won the Blair Bat Award given to the Ivy League player with the highest batting average in the league with an percentage of .473, in addition to the 2009 Ivy League Player of the Year award.
The Cyclones began season play the third week in June. After a strong 16-2 start, the team had a number of disappointing games, dropping their record to 18-9, Santomauro said.
Santomauro said he had already signed autographs for many of the team's roughly 8,000 fans attending each game, but didn't know how many fans had begun following his play.
"I'm kind of a walking jersey right now hopefully they'll start recognizing who I am . . . not just the number 40," he said. "I'm just trying to keep my energy and my focus right now."
The Big Green team finished its season with an Ivy League championship in the spring, which Santomauro said he thought was a perfect "culminating experience" for his Dartmouth baseball career.
"Being able to finally accomplish that goal with my teammates, it was really something special," he said. "I appreciate being given the opportunity to play at Dartmouth. I wouldn't give any of that back."
