close

Pirates’ Sanchez proves to be much more than a ‘utility’ player

By Alan Robinson Ap Sports Writer 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – A guy like Freddy Sanchez supposedly has no chance to make the All-Star team. Begins the season as a utility infielder on the league’s worst club.

Doesn’t hit many home runs.

Plays in a small market, and thus lacks the fan base and voting clout of the big-city stars.

Almost never appears on national TV, making it difficult to develop name recognition outside his own city.

Somehow – by persistence, ingenuity and a lot of hits – Sanchez will be on the bench July 11 at PNC Park, the same place he started the season. Only this time he will be sitting there for the NL All-Stars, and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ third baseman will be one of the least likely players to occupy such a spot in years.

This will be the only time all season that the NL’s leading hitter, with a .363 average going into Monday’s games, will be happy being a backup.

“You kind of get that tag as a utility player, it’s hard to break,” said Sanchez, chosen as an NL reserve by Astros manager Phil Garner despite being a regular only since early May. “You kind of have other people telling you you’re not good enough, so you’ve got to have that confidence in yourself. I’ve done it everywhere I’ve been, so I knew it was just a matter of playing time and at-bats.”

What’s remarkable is there once was a time when the 28-year-old former Red Sox farmhand never knew if he would be able to walk, much less have an athletic career. He was born with a deformed left foot – he had a club foot and was severely pigeon-toed – and needed a walker as a youngster even after having corrective surgery.

“They told me I might not be able to walk again. I had braces and everything,” Sanchez said. “To go from not even being able to walk to being in the big leagues is something special.”

Clearly, his Pirates teammates feel the same way.

Outfielder Jason Bay, pushed by a massive, get-out-the-vote drive begun by the Pirates after he hit 12 homers in May, will be the team’s first All-Star starter in 13 years. But when he rushed to call his wife the good news, he first told her about Sanchez.

“Honestly, I was more thrilled for Freddy,” Bay said. “I’ve said it for weeks, he’s the most deserving player in this clubhouse. I was worried that if I got voted in, it would hurt his chances of making the team.”

Sanchez’s path to the majors was a winding, circuitous one even after his foot was repaired. He played at traditionally weak Burbank High near Los Angeles, then at a junior college and two NAIA schools before getting a $1,000 bonus to sign with the Red Sox as an 11th-round draft pick in 2000.

Through it all, friends and fellow players said his work ethic was unrivaled. He often can be found in a batting cage after a game – much like his high school days, when he would pass up parties and dates to hit in whatever cage he could find open.

Sanchez was traded by Boston to the Pirates in the Jeff Suppan deal in 2003, only to injure his ankle in his first game with a Pirates farm club. He missed the rest of that season, then spent the next two-plus seasons trying to find a way into the Pittsburgh lineup.

He hit .291 in 132 games last season, but he had only five homers in 453 at-bats. That lack of power for a corner infielder led general manager Dave Littlefield to sign Joe Randa to a $4 million contract to play third base this season.

But Sanchez hit no matter where manager Jim Tracy played him early this year and, when Randa bruised his foot in early May, Sanchez seized the opportunity to play.

“One of the things I wanted to do was force their hand so they had to get me into the lineup,” Sanchez said. “It’s just easier playing every day. The more you play, the more pitches you see, the easier it is to adjust. Coming off the bench is not an easy thing to do. Once you start playing, get in that consistent mind frame, you can set a game plan every day and stick with it.”

Sanchez is very popular in Pittsburgh, as evidenced by his 856,685 write-in votes for the All-Star game. With 13 multihit games since June 1, he’s also gained the respect of opposing managers.

Garner, himself a former Pirates infielder nicknamed Scrap Iron for his resiliency, no doubt saw a little of himself in the scrappy Sanchez. And Tigers manager Jim Leyland wouldn’t allow closer Todd Jones to pitch to Sanchez in the ninth inning of Detroit’s 9-8 victory Sunday, ordering an intentional walk even though Sanchez represented the potential winning run.

“I normally don’t do that, but I couldn’t live with letting Sanchez tie it up or beat me,” said Leyland, who had seen Sanchez deliver two-run doubles in his previous two at-bats.

Leyland had another reason to walk Sanchez: His .390 average with runners in scoring position, the third-best in the NL. Sanchez also can hit the occasional homer – he has five, as many as he did last year, including a game-ending drive Thursday that halted the Pirates’ 13-game losing streak.

“He plays hard, he’s clutch,” Bay said. “And it sure seems he gets a hit every time he steps to the plate.”

Because Sanchez makes contact so often, and takes each at-bat so seriously, he doesn’t have the look of a half-season wonder. He is hitting .500 against left-handers (26-of-52) and has struck out only 21 times in 270 at-bats.

“All of this is something you dream about as a kid, but I didn’t know if it would ever happen to me,” Sanchez said. “All I wanted was a chance.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today