14 Facts To Know About Pablo Sandoval
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox have reportedly added free agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval, bringing "Kung Fu Panda" to Boston on a five-year deal worth $95 million with a club option for a sixth year.
Sandoval fills an immediate need for Boston at the hot corner, and gives them a solid lefty bat in the lineup. He was a fan favorite in his seven seasons in San Francisco, and not just because of his awesome nickname: Sandoval won three World Series with the Giants and played a major role in each of them.
Here is all you need to know about Boston's newest third baseman:
- Sandoval was born in Venezuela on August 11, 1986 and fell in love with baseball at an early age. He grew up idolizing fellow Venezuelans Omar Vizquel and Andres Galaragga, and was teammates with Vizquel on the Giants in 2008.
- Was born left-handed, but taught himself to throw with his right hand as a child to emulate Vizquel. He is a switch hitter and can throw with both hands, but throws right-handed in the field.
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- Sandoval was signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent in 2003, and made his major league debut in 2008. He played 41 games that season, batting .345 with three homers and 24 RBI while splitting time between third base, first base and catcher.
- He made the Giants' opening day roster out in 2009 and was their starting third baseman and backup catcher. He served as Barry Zito's personal catcher to start the season, but made only three starts behind the plate.
- Sandoval is a career .294 hitter to go with a .346 OBP and .465 slugging percentage. He's hit 106 home runs over his seven major league seasons, averaging 20 homers, 86 RBI and 74 runs scored over 162 games for his career.
- Has been named to two All-Star teams, in 2011 and 2012, and was the starting third baseman for the National League in 2012.
- Sandoval played in a career-high 157 games for the Giants in 2014 with a .279/.324/.415 split to go with 16 homers and 73 RBI.
- He thrives in the postseason, sporting a .344 batting average with six home runs and 20 RBI in 39 playoff games. Sandoval was named the MVP of the 2012 World Series after batting .500 (8-for-16) with three homers in San Francisco's four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers.
- In Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, he became just the fourth player to hit three homers in a World Series game. Two of his blasts came off of Detroit ace Justin Verlander.
- In his three World Series appearances, Sandoval has hit .426 with three homers and eight RBI.
- He recorded an MLB-record 26 hits in the 2014 postseason, the most by any player in a single postseason.
- Sandoval hit for the cycle in September 2011 against the Colorado Rockies, earning him his first career "NL Player of the Week" award.
- In the winter, Sandoval plays for Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League. He led the team a title in 2013 and was named the MVP of the Venezuelan postseason -- just three months after being named the 2012 World Series MVP.
- Sandoval is listed at 5-foot-11 and 245-pounds, and his weight has been a constant talking point throughout his career. The Giants made a public campaign called "Operation Panda" heading into the 2011 season to get Sandoval in better shape after he finished the 2010 season weighing more than 270-pounds.
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