© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
At the end of their run of three World Series championships Pablo Sandoval left the San Francisco Giants and decided to sign with the Boston Red Sox in 2015, criticizing the organization on the way out . Nonetheless, the Giants re-signed Sandoval last season and are giving him another shot at making their major league roster this Spring Training.
Second chances are never guaranteed, especially in Major League Baseball. Sandoval, appreciative of the gift he’s been given by the Giants, used part of his appearance on Murph & Mac Monday morning to apologize for his past actions.
“All the things that I said in the papers, I do apologize to everyone from the bottom of my heart,” Sandoval said. “All the things that I said doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to be with this guy or I didn’t miss that guy. I missed everyone here.”
Sandoval went on to say that “I’m doing everything I can to be better. To be better as a team, to be better as player, to be better as a person. Being here for me, especially, this is where it started and I want to end my career here with this team.”
The Giants were brought back down to earth after their most recent World Series championship in 2014 when Sandoval signed with the Boston Red Sox and told Bleacher Report he’d only miss manager Bruce Bochy and Hunter Pence, saying “I love Boch. He’s like my dad. He’s the only guy that I miss. And Hunter Pence. Just those guys.”
What followed was an injury-riddled tenure with the Red Sox for Sandoval that ended with his release last July.
Sandoval only made three appearances in 2016 before he decided to undergo season-ending surgery on his left shoulder. Sandoval struggled in his return to Boston last season, which opened the door for the 21-year-old Rafael Devers to take over in the hot corner.
Three days after his release from Boston, the Giants re-signed their former third baseman and Sandoval finished the year in San Francisco. Although he would set the longest hitless streak in franchise history by going 0-39, Sandoval worked his way to a better September, where he batted .233 with four home runs, the last of which was a walk-off homer that ended the season.
Now, a 31-year-old major league veteran, Sandoval is striving to take full advantage of the second chance he’s been given by the Giants. This spring, Sandoval is 2-5 with a booming home run in two appearances and showed up to camp ready to utilize with his catcher’s mitt.
“That’s huge,” Sandoval said. “Especially for me because I had a couple of teams that wanted to get me on their roster, but go come back here in the San Francisco Giants uniform decided it for me. All of the memories that I have when I was in the minor leagues to three World Series. All the fan support and the team support.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and start from the beginning for Sandoval on the Giants