If Your Birthday is August 11th...

...you share it with Pablo Sandoval, one of the nine players who earned rings on all three Giants teams to win the World Series during the 2010s.  The energetic and outgoing 3rd baseman took the money and ran after the 2014 title -- signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Red Sox, and saw his production plummet.  Boston was so unhappy that they released him in the middle of 2017 -- only to resign with the Giants and again become a vital cog.  He retired after the 2021 season with a .278 lifetime average.


Melky Cabrera spent 15 years in the majors, highlighted by being the regular center field on the Yankees last World Series champs, 2009.  "The Melk Man" moved around quite a bit over the years, with time also spent with the White Sox, Royals, Pirates, Giants, Braves, Indians and Blue Jays -- where I caught this image during a pre-game workout in 2014.

Below:  Al Pedrique enjoyed a good run as a minor league manager in the Yankees farm system, where he prepare prospects as Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Luis Severino for a big league future. Things went especially well with the Triple-A Scranton RailRiders; Pedrique's clubs finished first twice and won the 2016 International League championship.  But did you know the Venezuela native had a brief career as a backup infielder for the Mets, Pirates and Tigers in the late '80s?


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