All-Star Freddy
By: Mike Mueller
Updated: April 24, 2009
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pirates fans furiously wrote in Freddy
Sanchez's name hundreds of thousands of times on ballots last
summer in a bid to send their surprise star to the All-Star game.
Sanchez wasn't voted into the 2006 game, but was an unexpected
choice by N-L manager Phil Garner.
This year, despite not producing the way he did a year ago,
Sanchez is an All-Star again -- this time, a surprise choice by N-L
manager Tony La Russa of Saint Louis.
Sanchez says he was "totally shocked."
Sanchez is the first Pirates infielder to be chosen for
consecutive All-Star games since Garner, of all players, in 1980
and 1981.
Sanchez's numbers are down from a year ago, when his average was
the highest by a Pirates player since Hall of Famer Roberto
Clemente's 1969 mark. But the knee injury slowed him badly early in
the season, and he bounced back in May and June.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Sanchez's name hundreds of thousands of times on ballots last
summer in a bid to send their surprise star to the All-Star game.
Sanchez wasn't voted into the 2006 game, but was an unexpected
choice by N-L manager Phil Garner.
This year, despite not producing the way he did a year ago,
Sanchez is an All-Star again -- this time, a surprise choice by N-L
manager Tony La Russa of Saint Louis.
Sanchez says he was "totally shocked."
Sanchez is the first Pirates infielder to be chosen for
consecutive All-Star games since Garner, of all players, in 1980
and 1981.
Sanchez's numbers are down from a year ago, when his average was
the highest by a Pirates player since Hall of Famer Roberto
Clemente's 1969 mark. But the knee injury slowed him badly early in
the season, and he bounced back in May and June.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
