Sandoval gets support from family at spring training
National League pitchers now know whom they can thank for Pablo Sandoval's battleship-sized hitting zone: his older brother Michael.
Growing up in Venezuela, the two youngest Sandovals would come home from school and play ball in an empty two-car garage. They started when Michael was 8 and Pablo 4. Michael would pitch. If Pablo hit the ball and Michael caught it, he was out. If he hit it past Michael, it was a run. Out of the garage, two runs.
Pablo often had three strikes against him before he saw a pitch. One, Michael was older and threw hard. Two, 8-year-olds cannot fire the ball over the plate with any consistency. Three, the wadded-up tape they used as a ball did not have the smooth aerodynamics of a proper baseball.
To score off his brother, Pablo had to be ready to swing anywhere. A hitting coach's nightmare? Maybe, but Sandoval is here, penciled in as the Giants' starting third baseman in 2009 and a key to their hopes for a winning season.
They know that if Sandoval even approaches a full season of what he did in 145 at-bats last year, a .345 average, 14 extra-base hits and 24 RBIs, their offense will be better. Though the National League might have been surprised by those numbers, Michael Sandoval was not.
"I knew that was going to happen," he said, "because I know my brother."
Michael Sandoval is not talking through his hat. He knows what it takes to get to the majors because he tried for seven years after he was signed by the Minnesota Twins and did not rise above Double-A. He still has the bug and will play independent ball in Newark, N.J., this year.
Watching with great affection will be their parents, Pablo Sr. and Amelia, who took a leave from the mechanical-engineering firm they own in Valencia, Venezuela, to spend the spring in Scottsdale. They share a house with their son Pablo as he tackles the dual challenges of learning to be a major-league third baseman and shedding the extra pounds the Giants want him to lose.
Sandoval's father was a third baseman and Michael is, too. They can offer mechanical tips, but in talking to Sandoval, it becomes clear he needs his mother more. Now 22, he always will be the baby of the family (a little sister, Diana, died in a car accident before her first birthday). He has missed Amelia terribly in his years away from Venezuela.
"It was hard because my mother did everything for me," Pablo said. "I was the young guy. I missed my mom the last couple of years. I talked to my mom and dad and I said, 'You know what? You can close the company for one month. Do whatever you want, but I want to see you guys because in spring training I need you to stay here.' "
Sandoval was 16 when the Giants signed him in 2003. His mother demanded that Pablo not be taken out of Venezuela until he finished high school. Now, she demands that he do all the conditioning work that begins long before most players arrive at Scottsdale Stadium, long before the sun rises.
"My mom, she's the kind of person who always has something to say," Michael said. "Even if you're doing a great job, she wants us to do it the right way. Mama went to Arizona and Pablo started to do early work. I talked to my mom last night and she told me Pablo is leaving at 6 o'clock every day."
At 5, Pablo started organized coach-pitch games and laughs now as he described them.
"I only liked to hit," he said. "I didn't like to play defense. I just went to hit and I sat down next to my mom. That was it. The coach told me to play defense and I said, 'No.' "
Sandoval ultimately became a left-handed-throwing right fielder. By age 9 he wanted to play shortstop, like his idol Omar Vizquel, so he learned to throw right-handed. Even now, he is ambidextrous.
He said he first thought he could play major-league baseball when Michael was signed. Through the years that Michael was in the Twins' system, he mailed batting gloves and such to Pablo, who started gaining attention from scouts at 14. When Pablo reached 16, he went to the Dominican Republic to play in a two-week scouting tournament.
A Texas Rangers scout came to Pablo and promised to come to Venezuela to sign him, and when Pablo returned to Valencia he proudly reported he was going to be a Ranger. But the scout did not show. If he figured he could take his time, he badly miscalculated. Two weeks later, Giants scout Ciro Villalobos dropped by with a contract.
Sandoval had the normal ups and downs rising through the system. In 2008, it was all ups. By August, he was in the majors sharing a clubhouse with one of his two Venezuelan idols, Vizquel.
The other was Andres Galarraga, and they met this winter before the Venezuela League home run derby, which Sandoval won (beating Miguel Cabrera in the finals). Galarraga told Sandoval he likes his style.
San Francisco seems so far removed from a stadium in Caracas or a garage in Valencia, but Sandoval has a plan to cure his homesickness. He will bring his parents to the Bay Area, maybe alternating a month there and a month in Venezuela so they can tend to their business.
"It was my idea," Sandoval said. "I've spent too much time in the United States and they haven't had a chance to see me play here. This is a moment for a family being together."
A's pitcher Dallas Braden says baseball helped save him from a rough life. C4
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Growing up in Venezuela, the two youngest Sandovals would come home from school and play ball in an empty two-car garage. They started when Michael was 8 and Pablo 4. Michael would pitch. If Pablo hit the ball and Michael caught it, he was out. If he hit it past Michael, it was a run. Out of the garage, two runs.
Pablo often had three strikes against him before he saw a pitch. One, Michael was older and threw hard. Two, 8-year-olds cannot fire the ball over the plate with any consistency. Three, the wadded-up tape they used as a ball did not have the smooth aerodynamics of a proper baseball.
To score off his brother, Pablo had to be ready to swing anywhere. A hitting coach's nightmare? Maybe, but Sandoval is here, penciled in as the Giants' starting third baseman in 2009 and a key to their hopes for a winning season.
They know that if Sandoval even approaches a full season of what he did in 145 at-bats last year, a .345 average, 14 extra-base hits and 24 RBIs, their offense will be better. Though the National League might have been surprised by those numbers, Michael Sandoval was not.
"I knew that was going to happen," he said, "because I know my brother."
Michael Sandoval is not talking through his hat. He knows what it takes to get to the majors because he tried for seven years after he was signed by the Minnesota Twins and did not rise above Double-A. He still has the bug and will play independent ball in Newark, N.J., this year.
Watching with great affection will be their parents, Pablo Sr. and Amelia, who took a leave from the mechanical-engineering firm they own in Valencia, Venezuela, to spend the spring in Scottsdale. They share a house with their son Pablo as he tackles the dual challenges of learning to be a major-league third baseman and shedding the extra pounds the Giants want him to lose.
Sandoval's father was a third baseman and Michael is, too. They can offer mechanical tips, but in talking to Sandoval, it becomes clear he needs his mother more. Now 22, he always will be the baby of the family (a little sister, Diana, died in a car accident before her first birthday). He has missed Amelia terribly in his years away from Venezuela.
"It was hard because my mother did everything for me," Pablo said. "I was the young guy. I missed my mom the last couple of years. I talked to my mom and dad and I said, 'You know what? You can close the company for one month. Do whatever you want, but I want to see you guys because in spring training I need you to stay here.' "
Sandoval was 16 when the Giants signed him in 2003. His mother demanded that Pablo not be taken out of Venezuela until he finished high school. Now, she demands that he do all the conditioning work that begins long before most players arrive at Scottsdale Stadium, long before the sun rises.
"My mom, she's the kind of person who always has something to say," Michael said. "Even if you're doing a great job, she wants us to do it the right way. Mama went to Arizona and Pablo started to do early work. I talked to my mom last night and she told me Pablo is leaving at 6 o'clock every day."
At 5, Pablo started organized coach-pitch games and laughs now as he described them.
"I only liked to hit," he said. "I didn't like to play defense. I just went to hit and I sat down next to my mom. That was it. The coach told me to play defense and I said, 'No.' "
Sandoval ultimately became a left-handed-throwing right fielder. By age 9 he wanted to play shortstop, like his idol Omar Vizquel, so he learned to throw right-handed. Even now, he is ambidextrous.
He said he first thought he could play major-league baseball when Michael was signed. Through the years that Michael was in the Twins' system, he mailed batting gloves and such to Pablo, who started gaining attention from scouts at 14. When Pablo reached 16, he went to the Dominican Republic to play in a two-week scouting tournament.
A Texas Rangers scout came to Pablo and promised to come to Venezuela to sign him, and when Pablo returned to Valencia he proudly reported he was going to be a Ranger. But the scout did not show. If he figured he could take his time, he badly miscalculated. Two weeks later, Giants scout Ciro Villalobos dropped by with a contract.
Sandoval had the normal ups and downs rising through the system. In 2008, it was all ups. By August, he was in the majors sharing a clubhouse with one of his two Venezuelan idols, Vizquel.
The other was Andres Galarraga, and they met this winter before the Venezuela League home run derby, which Sandoval won (beating Miguel Cabrera in the finals). Galarraga told Sandoval he likes his style.
San Francisco seems so far removed from a stadium in Caracas or a garage in Valencia, but Sandoval has a plan to cure his homesickness. He will bring his parents to the Bay Area, maybe alternating a month there and a month in Venezuela so they can tend to their business.
"It was my idea," Sandoval said. "I've spent too much time in the United States and they haven't had a chance to see me play here. This is a moment for a family being together."
A's pitcher Dallas Braden says baseball helped save him from a rough life. C4
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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