Ron Cook: Freddy was ready to play ... short sleeves and all

Monday, April 09, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CINCINNATI -- Of all the wonderful things said about Freddy Sanchez yesterday, of all the amazement expressed by his manager and teammates about his ability to pick up a bat and face big-league pitching for the first time in more than a month and promptly drill a couple of knocks in the Pirates' 6-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds, the testimony offered by shortstop Jack Wilson was most compelling.

Simply put, but so telling:

"You have a sense of completeness when you get the National League batting champion back."

Of course, that's not what Wilson told Sanchez.

What?

Are you crazy?

"After Jose Bautista made a nice play in the hole, I yelled over to him how nice it was to have a third baseman with range," Wilson said.

"It's true. He did say it," said Sanchez, who moved over to second base this spring to make room for Bautista.

Hey, it was easy for everyone to giggle after this game.

The win put a sweet finish on the Pirates' surprisingly successful, season-opening trip and enables them to proudly take a 4-2 record into the game against the St. Louis Cardinals today at PNC Park. That sure beats the heck out of the 1-6 record they dragged into the home opener last season.

"Awesome," Sanchez said.

It's even better because of the way Sanchez performed. He clearly had some serious doubts before the game about being able to hit right away because of his lousy spring. He had only seven at-bats before his right knee was sprained in an exhibition game March 6. He had just two more on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Indianapolis Thursday night before the games there Friday and Saturday nights were postponed by cold weather.

Nine at-bats shouldn't be enough for any hitter, even a batting champion.

"It kind of stinks," Sanchez said. "But I've got to get started sometime. I've got to go out and get the job done."

It made sense for the Pirates to bring Sanchez back for this game. The fact they needed the lift after losing the first two games at Great American Ball Park was only part of it. Sanchez is a .380 career hitter against the Reds. He owns left-handed pitchers and the Reds were starting one, Eric Milton; he hit a baseball-best .442 against left-handers last season. He especially owns Milton; he was 9 for 13 against him before yesterday.

But let's be real here:

It would have been nice to see Sanchez back at the plate even if he was 0 for 20 against Milton.

"You're talking about 200 hits," Pirates left fielder Jason Bay said, not to mention the 53 doubles -- another baseball best -- that Sanchez contributed to the cause last season.

Sanchez looked immediately out of place, but not because of all of those missed at-bats. He was the only Pirates' player to wear short sleeves in the bitter cold. It brought back memories of Mike Webster leading the Steelers to the line of scrimmage in frigid weather.

"He did it because he said it made him feel less restricted," Bay said. "You don't get toughness points in our sport. I don't care if he was cold. It worked, didn't it?"

You might say.

Batting leadoff because Pirates manager Jim Tracy wanted to get slugger Brad Eldred a start -- a move that paid off big time when Eldred hit an important home run in the eighth inning -- Sanchez hit a weak fly ball to center field on Milton's first pitch. "I was a little antsy." He popped out to second in the third inning. But his third at-bat was a beauty. He scalded a single to left in the fifth and scored when Wilson hit a home run. His fourth at-bat was even better. He drilled a run-scoring double to the right-center gap in the sixth.

Like riding a bike.

"I wish," Sanchez said, rolling his eyes. "Trust me, this is a time when I really have to battle and bear down. I've still got to work out some kinks. I'm not even close to being where I want to be as a hitter."

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? That it should be some fun watching Sanchez try to get there?

The man has become a fan favorite, bigger, maybe, than even Wilson and Bay. Certainly, he'll get the most thunderous applause today from the sellout crowd when the Pirates are introduced.

The last time Pirates fans saw Sanchez at PNC Park -- on the final day of last season -- they were waving yellow "Go Freddy Go" placards and urging him on to the batting championship. He didn't let them down, banging two singles in his two at-bats to wrap up the title.

Of course, Sanchez didn't let them down.

"The guy can flat-out hit," Tracy said.

Simply put, but so telling.


(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.)