Freddy Sanchez

GLENDALE — With the San Francisco Giants entrenched in a pair of races — for the National League West Division and wild-card — it would help to have their starting second baseman on board. Unfortunately for Freddy Sanchez, a former Glendale Community College standout, he hasn’t been healthy enough to compete. Sanchez, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 29, was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained left shoulder. The move was retroactive to Aug. 18, meaning Sanchez could return Wednesday.

gnp-sanchez26Text0B1V9LB0Freddy Sanchez feature.News-Press and Leader With an everpresent smile and an everyday spot, Freddy Sanchez is closing in on the NL batting title. The NL Batting Chase 1. Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh Pirates, .342 2. Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins, .336 3. Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies, .332 Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer leads all of Major League Baseball with a .349 average. Standing on the grass around home plate at Dodger Stadium, Freddy Sanchez isn't hard to spot; he's the player with the biggest smile.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players. Freddy Sanchez (Glendale Community College, 1998) second baseman, San Francisco Giants: Sanchez homered in his first at bat in the first inning on Sunday to get the Giants off to a great start en route to beating the Colorado Rockies, 4-2, on the road to pull into sole possession of first place in the National League West Division. Batting second, Sanchez followed Cody Ross' leadoff walk with his seventh blast of the season to deep left field to give starter Matt Cain an instant 2-0 lead.

GLENDALE — After nine seasons, 844 Major League Baseball games and 3,161 at-bats, Freddy Sanchez will now have the opportunity to compete in the postseason for the first time. Sanchez, a Burbank High graduate who attended Glendale Community College, came through with a clutch run-scoring single Sunday to lead the Giants to a 3-0 victory against the visiting San Diego Padres. The Giants captured the National League's West Division championship and will open a best-of-five division series Thursday against the Atlanta Braves at home.

SAN FRANCISCO — He knew what he could do. But Freddy Sanchez wondered in the difficult times — when his body was slow in healing, when the fans and media were slow in acceptance — would there be a chance to do it? "When you're hurt," concedes Sanchez, "and you're not out there with your guys, there are a million things going through your head. You're not in a good mental state. You're not on the field proving what you can do. " It didn't matter that he had been the best hitter in the National League a few years earlier.

GLENDALE — Just two days after approaching All-Star second baseman Freddy Sanchez and shortstop Jack Wilson about signing a two-year contract extension, the Pittsburgh Pirates have cut off contract talks with both players after not getting a response from Sanchez or Wilson, the Associated Press reported on Sunday. The latest deal offered by the Pirates would have paid Sanchez $10 million over the next two seasons, but would have required him to waive the incentive clause in his current contract that would earn him $8.4 million due in 2010 if he makes 600 plate appearances in 2009.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players.   Freddy Sanchez (Glendale Community College, 1998) San Francisco Giants infielder: The Giants showed Sanchez how much they had missed him this season by planting him right back at second base and straight into the third spot in the batting order for his season debut on Wednesday night at the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sanchez, who was activated from the disabled list on Wednesday, responded by going 0 for four, but it was a tough night for the Giants all around, as they collected just four hits in a 13-1 loss.

GLENDALE ? A second opinion left Freddy Sanchez still feeling pain, but with relief in sight. Sanchez, a two-time All-Star infielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the 2006 National League batting champion, has been bothered by a sore right shoulder since September. The former Burbank High and Glendale Community College standout had an MRI recently done, but sought a second opinion when he traveled to Birmingham, Ala, to meet with Dr. James Andrews on Monday. Andrews, a noted orthopedist, ruled that Sanchez has no structural damage to his right shoulder.

As he continued to languish on the disabled list since the beginning of the 2012 season while trying to return from right shoulder surgery and a subsequent back ailment, the prognosis seemed to become increasingly dim for San Francisco Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez' 11th Major League Baseball campaign ever getting started. Any remaining hope of seeing Sanchez on the field this season was snuffed out for good when it was reported on Thursday that the former Burbank High and Glendale Community College standout underwent season-ending back surgery.

One moment Marco Estrada was on top of the world, enjoying a mountain of first-inning run support Wednesday afternoon and even driving in the last two runs of the six-run explosion himself with a rare feat for a starting pitcher - a two-out double. The next instant, the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander, who once played at Glendale Community College, was pulling up lame rounding first base, on his way out of the game and ultimately to the 15-day disabled list. Estrada was placed on the DL Thursday with a right quadriceps strain suffered while running the bases, according to a press release issued by the Brewers, who won Wednesday's home game over the San Francisco Giants, 8-5. "I almost wish I would have struck out on that," Estrada told mlb.com of his fateful hit after leaving the game in the first inning.

Freddy Sanchez has made an impact wherever he's donned a baseball uniform, from Burbank High, to Glendale Community College, to Oklahoma City University and currently with the San Francisco Giants. The National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics will recognize Sanchez's contributions at Oklahoma City University when he will be one of 18 athletes inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Assn. Rawlings-NAIA Hall of Fame. He is already a member of Oklahoma City University's Hall of Fame.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players. Freddy Sanchez (Glendale Community College, 1998) second baseman, San Francisco Giants: While the defending World Series champions struggled in their season-opening series against their archrivals, the former Glendale Community College and Burbank High standout has gotten off to a hot start. The former National League batting champion has hit safely in all four of the Giants' games thus far in which San Francisco went 1-3 against the host Los Angeles Dodgers.

GLENDALE — Editor's Note: The following is a recap of the 2010 local sports scene from the summer and fall seasons. The second half of 2010 brought numerous headlines, ranging from a former Glendale Community College baseball standout helping the San Francisco Giants capture the World Series to a Glendale college women's golfer winning a state championship to Glendale wrestling the Victory Bell away from cross-town rival Hoover....

GLENDALE — The following are recaps on area athletes who played Major League Baseball during the recently concluded 2010 season. SANCHEZ, GIANTS??? REACH THE PINNACLE??? When the 2010 baseball season began, Freddy Sanchez was making a slow recovery from a shoulder injury — he didn't play his first game until May 19 — and his San Francisco Giants were languishing out of the gate. What a difference four months made, as by the beginning of October, the Giants had rallied to clinch the National League West on the final day of the regular season, with Sanchez rounding back into top form at the plate.

SAN FRANCISCO — He knew what he could do. But Freddy Sanchez wondered in the difficult times — when his body was slow in healing, when the fans and media were slow in acceptance — would there be a chance to do it? "When you're hurt," concedes Sanchez, "and you're not out there with your guys, there are a million things going through your head. You're not in a good mental state. You're not on the field proving what you can do. " It didn't matter that he had been the best hitter in the National League a few years earlier.

GLENDALE — It took Freddy Sanchez the first 10 years of his Major League Baseball career to experience playoff baseball. Now that he's in the postseason, he's certainly making the most of it. The Burbank High graduate and Glendale Community College alum had three hits Saturday night in Game Six of the 2010 National League Championship Series to help the San Francisco Giants continue their magical postseason run with a 3-2 pennant-clinching win...

GLENDALE — The San Francisco Giants will have to wait at least one more game to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2002. Though former Glendale Community College and Burbank High standout Freddy Sanchez collected two hits, it wasn't enough, as the Philadelphia Phillies recorded a 4-2 victory against host San Francisco on Thursday night in the fifth game of the National League Championship Series. The Giants hold a 3-2 lead in the series, which will shift back to Philadelphia for the sixth game Saturday.

GLENDALE — Freddy Sanchez and the San Francisco Giants are headed back to AT&T Park with homefield advantage in hand after splitting the first two games of the 2010 National League Championship Series with the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park over the weekend. With the next three games at home, starting with Game Three on at 1:19 p.m. on Tuesday, the Giants now have a chance to close out the best-of-seven series without having to return to Philadelphia. Sanchez, a Burbank High graduate and former Glendale Community College player, went two for four with a pair of singles in the Giants' 6-1 loss in Game Two on Sunday night.