SARASOTA, Fla. - The irony is not lost on Johan Santana. Nor the cruelty. How could the best night of his baseball career also be the one that possibly destroyed it? Two years later, and now trying another comeback attempt in a different uniform, Santana still has no regrets about the no-hitter that changed everything.

Standing at his locker, wearing black-and-orange workout gear, Santana explained Wednesday why it’s just the opposite. By making history for the Mets, with a surgically repaired shoulder, Santana is convinced he can beat the odds again - coming off a second capsule reconstruction.

“Definitely,” Santana said. “I know what it takes and it’s not easy. But I’m not going out of the game like that. Whenever I leave this game, I want to do it on my own terms. Honestly, I don’t remember who the last hitter was that I faced. I don’t remember anything about my last game and I don’t want to.

“I’m excited to know when my next one is going to be, so that’s the way I’m looking at it - nothing to lose, a lot to gain. That’s the reason I’m here. Because I feel like I can still do it.”

Let the record show that Santana’s last time on a major-league mound was Aug. 17, 2012, at Nationals Park. He retired Mike Morse on a deep fly ball to center field to end the fifth inning and did not return - that season or the following one. When Santana arrived for spring training in February, his arm was lifeless. Two months later, his left shoulder was cut open again, only this time the Mets’ team surgeon, David Altchek, “anchored” the torn tissue to his bone after it had ripped away.

Santana said Wednesday that is the critical difference between the two surgeries - performed only 31 months apart - and it gives him optimism for this second go-round. His first workout Wednesday at the Orioles’ spring training complex was limited to long toss at roughly 120 feet and a few conditioning runs, but Santana stressed this is very early in the process.

As for the scouting reports that had him barely breaking 80 mph at an audition earlier this month, Santana said it was nothing more than getting used to a mound again. He has not thrown with any “intensity” to this point, and with Orioles General Manager Dan Duquette setting June 1 as a target date, Santana believes he has the time to get ready.

“We have to make sure my shoulder feels good,” Santana said. “And once we get everything back together - my legs, my whole body - then we’ll get more intensity. After that, it’s pitching. And I know how to pitch.”

Santana, a two-time Cy Young winner, figures to be a low-risk gamble for the Orioles, who signed him to a minor-league contract that would be worth $3 million if he cracks the 40-man roster. It also has incentives that could add up to another $5.05 million.

But wherever Santana goes from here, he’ll always be reminded of the immortality he achieved in Flushing - and how one night may have scuttled his future. Santana insists there is no medical proof those 134 pitches ultimately led to his second surgery, but the numbers show he was never the same afterward. Santana knows that much, and in the midst of this exhausting climb, refuses to second-guess himself.

“How many times do you have an opportunity to be in that situation?” Santana said. “Maybe never. To me, it was like the greatest thing ever - and I didn’t want it to get away. Go for it and we’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”

All Santana has now is tomorrow and it’s been an excruciatingly long wait. If he does eventually join the Orioles, maybe Santana will find himself back in a playoff race for the first time since 2008, when his brilliant September (4-0, 1.83 ERA) couldn’t prevent another Mets collapse. For Santana, who turns 35 next week, he said his turbulent stay in Flushing taught him a lot.

“One game makes a difference, and you always have to go for it,” Santana said. “Because you never know. And then - just like that - it’s gone.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 03/07/2014