The Rumble

Santana will tell a story about the first time his father Jesus, an electrician and former semi-pro shortstop, saw him play in a Little League game. As his nervous father watched, Santana swung at the first pitch and missed badly. Jesus then encouraged him to calm down. On the next pitch, Santana hit a home run while breaking the aluminum bat — a local legendary tale which people there still talk about to this day. The mountain Santana climbed before every game is testament to his competitive nature.

Santana takes host Kirk Gimenez — also a native Venezuelan — to visit his mother Hilda and their childhood home, as well as his elementary school’s first-grade classroom, where Santana would meet his wife, Yasmile. The children sit mesmerized as they listen to their hometown hero speak. For the fourth consecutive year, Santana set up a kids festival — right before Christmas — where he handed out more than 10,000 toys and sports equipment.

“He is one that cares about his teammates, friends and kids, and he is a giving person who understands what he means to his country and to his hometown,” Mets GM Omar Minaya tells the Rumble.

“I learned Johan has a heart of gold, to match his golden arm. I gained a new found respect and appreciation for who he is as a man,” Gimenez said.

Burritos & basketball

John Coffino doesn’t get many opportunities to come home. The Bronx native is the head coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in the NBA Developmental League, and so the majority of his days are spent two time zones away, where the eating fare is a tad different from here.

“Lot of burritos here,” Coffino told The Post’s Tim Sullivan.

But he did get a recent weekend reprieve from New Mexico, and Coffino wasted little time deciding where he wanted to spend it.

“I miss home, certainly,” said Coffino, a former assistant coach at Niagara, Iona and St. Peter’s. “Albuquerque is great, the league is great, and the community really rallies around this team. But home is home, and I had to get back there for a few days.”

And perhaps he’ll get an opportunity to return . . . for good. Coffino’s name may well pop up in two weeks, when several local college head coaching jobs are expected to open up.

Coffino has been in Albuquerque for three seasons. He arrived as former head coach Jeff Ruland’s assistant, before taking over for the former Iona coach last year. Before Friday’s game at Utah, the Thunderbirds were 16-14 and in third place in the West Division.

Goff means business

The pathway to the fulltime starting middle linebacker job with the Giants recently opened up in front of Jonathan Goff with the release of Antonio Pierce. But that doesn’t mean Goff turned this offseason into a football-only proposition.

He was one of 77 NFL players to take part in the league’s Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program and spent the past week learning and studying at Harvard Business School.

Entering his third season with the Giants, Goff was lauded for his brainpower when he was drafted out of Vanderbilt, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. Also participating in the program were Giants offensive lineman Adam Koets and Jets guard Brandon Moore, who spent the week at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

T.O. talk

Terrell Owens will be on YES Network’s “CenterStage” program debuting Sunday, and he tells Michael Kay he and Donovan McNabb have patched things up somewhat after their bad breakup as teammates with the Eagles.

“I can honestly say I appreciate those years and Donovan and I are friends and, actually we were just hanging out last night as a matter of fact,” Owens said. “So it was one of those things where — again — it started off well, it didn’t end well. Sometimes, I wish it could have ended on a positive note.”

Go get em, Gene!

Add Al Leiter and Darryl Strawberry to the list of people pulling for longtime Yankees trainer Gene Monahan. Monahan is missing his first spring training in 48 years because of an illness that is being treated in New York.

“He earned total respect from every guy who went through there,” said Leiter, who did two stints with the Yankees and currently is part of the club’s television package. “I don’t know a single guy who doesn’t feel [Monahan] is an integral part of the Yankees. He always communicated with the manager, and I have been places where the trainer and manager didn’t do that. Gino is the kind of guy who keeps things together, and you need a guy like that.”

Strawberry marvels at Monahan’s ability to treat the ailments that hit players.

“He is the reason guys continue to play,” Strawberry said. “He is the most important influence in that clubhouse. He understands people.”

Bay a proud Canadian

If spring training in Port St. Lucie didn’t call this week for Jason Bay, the newest Mets outfielder would be a spectator at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Mets’ first full workout is Thursday.

“As a Canadian I am proud the Olympics are being held in my home country,” Bay said. “I was thinking of going, but I am really preparing for the season now and I don’t want to do anything to disrupt my training.”

The Olympic torch passed through Bay’s hometown — Trail, British Columbia — and he was invited to participate.

“I couldn’t make it back in time,” said Bay, who now makes his home in Kirkland, Wash. “It would have been quite an honor.”

Bay’s favorite Olympic sport is hockey.

“You know it’s the best against the best,” he said. “I also like curling. My father was into curling and I really enjoy watching that, too.”

Video tennis showdown

The day before they join Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic in the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, reigning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and 2009 U.S. Open winner Kim Clijsters will battle it out in a “Match Before The Match” on Ubisoft’s Racquet Sports video game at Madison Square Garden. . . . The Nets will host their second annual Evening of Chinese Culture when they face the Grizzlies tonight at the Izod Center. . . . John Harkes, the Kearny (N.J.) native and former U.S. national soccer icon, will call the first MLS match at Red Bull Arena for ESPN on March 27 when the Red Bulls play host to the Chicago Fire.