Freddy Sanchez

Given a chance to start at third base when Joe Randa was injured in May, Sanchez had 200 hits and led the National League (NL) with a .344 batting average, the highest by a Pirate since Roberto Clemente batted .345 in 1969.

Frederick Phillip Sanchez Jr. (born December 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball second baseman.

Sanchez played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (–), Pittsburgh Pirates (–) and San Francisco Giants (–).

He batted and threw right-handed.

Born with a severely pigeon-toed left foot and a club right foot, Sanchez defied doctors' expectations by learning how to walk normally.

Frederick Phillip Sanchez Jr. was born to Freddy Sr. and Michelle at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on December 21, 1977.

At birth, he had a severely pigeon-toed left foot and a club right foot, and his parents received an initial medical prognosis that he might never walk.

After they sought specialized medical attention through the Children's Orthopaedic Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, they had him undergo surgery to correct his foot problems at 13 months.

Sanchez then had to undergo years of physical therapy before he could walk properly.

His father was a truck driver who got his son interested in baseball by playing catch with him in the backyard.

Sanchez and his father were big fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After a full day of work, Freddy Sr. would come home, then drive his son 30–45 minutes to play Little League baseball, as there were few fields near where the Sanchez family lived in downtown Los Angeles.

During Sanchez's sixth grade year, the family moved to Burbank.

He was named the Most Valuable Player of the Foothill League his senior year at Burbank High School, getting drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 30th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.

However, Sanchez chose to attend college instead, spending two years at Glendale Community College, one year at Dallas Baptist University, and one year at Oklahoma City University, where he was a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-Star.

In 1996, Sanchez graduated from Burbank High School, where he was a three-year varsity player.

In his senior year he was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Foothill League of the California Interscholastic Federation.

While in high school, he played on a summer league team with Jack Wilson, who would eventually be his teammate in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

His senior year, he was the No. 3 prospect in his region.

He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 30th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft out of Burbank High but opted to attend college instead.

"They told me they were going to do a draft-and-watch," Sanchez said of the Braves, "So I didn't even have the choice of being signed."

Initially, Sanchez planned to attend Los Angeles Valley College, the closest community college to where he lived.

However, he went to Glendale Community College instead after they hired Denny Barrett as their coach; Sanchez had played under Barrett on a travel team and looked forward to being on his team again.

In two years at Glendale, he batted .407, won the Western State Conference MVP Award, and led the team to a co-championship in the conference.

He transferred to Dallas Baptist University of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as a junior, where he played in the NAIA World Series.

Following his college career, he was drafted by the Red Sox in the 11th round of the 2000 draft.

Sanchez made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2002 and played a few games with them in 2003 before getting traded to the Pirates.

He suffered an injury in his first game with the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate and missed the remainder of the 2003 season, as well as the first half of 2004.

Sanchez spent most of 2004 in the minor leagues, only playing nine games for Pittsburgh.

In his first full season, he received many of the starts at third base and second base for the Pirates, batting .291.

Still, he was just a reserve player to begin the 2006 season, but that would be the best year of his career.

He made the All-Star Game that year as well as 2007, when he batted .304.

After hitting .271 in 2008, Sanchez reached his third All-Star Game with the Pirates in 2009 but was traded to the Giants on July 31.

Expected to help the Giants contend for the playoffs in the latter part of 2009, Sanchez spent much of his time with them injured.

He missed the start of the 2010 season with a shoulder injury but became a key part of their infield as their starting second baseman after making his season debut on May 19.

He batted .292 as San Francisco won the NL West.

In Game 3 of the 2010 National League Division Series against Atlanta, he hit a two-out single against Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning of a game the Giants trailed 2–1; they rallied to win 3–2 that inning.

Sanchez batted .320 in the 2010 National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, then became the first player to have doubles in his first three World Series at bats in Game 1 of the 2010 World Series, helping the Giants win their first World Series since 1954 as they defeated the Texas Rangers.

Sanchez batted .289 through 60 games in 2011 but suffered another shoulder injury on June 10.

He spent the next season and a half on the disabled list, then announced his retirement on December 21, 2015.