Panda Escapes


Perhaps escape isn't quite the right word to use when a ballplayer agrees to a five-year contract worth nearly $100-million. I wasn't surprised that Pablo Sandoval found that money, but that it came from a club other than the Giants. After three World Series titles in five years, he heads to Boston, where he'll join another paunchy star David Ortiz in a suddenly fortified Red Sox lineup. And much like a year ago, when Robinson Cano took more dollars to join the Mariners, instead of choosing to becoming a lifelong Yankee as were Jeter, Mantle and Ford, Pablo Sandoval's place in Giants history will be briefer and end more harshly than did the tenures of Mays, McCovey and Marichal.


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