Pablo "Panda" Sandoval: lovable, cherished, and pretty darn good baseball player. During his time with the San Francisco Giants, kids and adults alike donned fleece panda-shaped hats and held up "Kung-Fu Panda" signs. Among revolutions like "Free The Beard" and "Let Timmy Smoke," the era of the Panda was certainly one of the most memorable. One could say that the Panda was nothing sort of a sensation. That is, until our dear friend Pablo shocked all Giants fans in November by opting for a five-year, nearly $100 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.
Ouch.
(Photo via FoxSports)
And so it was. The Giants offered to pay Panda nearly the same amount -- and would have loved to keep him. During his run with the Giants, Pablo collected three World Series titles and appeared in two All-Star games. Not too shabby for the then 28-year-old Venezuelan. However, citing his desire for a "new challenge," Panda packed his bags and waved goodbye to the City by the Bay.
In 2014, San Francisco was coming off of their most recent World Series win against Kansas City, in which our friend traitor Pablo was a key player. After the confetti dust settled and the high of the wins wore off, Sandoval hit the road. Thus began the "Panda Hangover."
Giants fans and the organization were sick. Maybe it was due to copious amounts of celebratory champagne, but they were sick at the loss of their dear Panda. His numerous contributions to the team, as well as his connection with the fans, would be surely missed. What were the Giants (and their fans!) going to do? Should we throw our Panda hats in the dumpster? Set them aflame? Throw them into McCovey Cove, hoping they would sink to the very bottom and never appear again? Regardless, something had to be done. This hangover couldn't last.
(Photo via New York Times)
Hangovers and their cure have become a sort of wives' tale. Everyone has had one, yet no one knows its exact cure. Some swear by eating a giant stack of pancakes in the morning, drinking a Bloody Mary, popping pills, or even standing on your head. (?!!?!???)
Unfortunately, you just couldn't give the Giants organization a couple of flapjacks and hope that their Panda woes would be solved in four to six hours. I am a believer that good breakfast food solves most problems, but this problem was just too big.
Fast forward a couple of months later, and San Francisco opened their season with veteran Casey McGehee at third base, set to fill the Panda's shoes. (Heads?) Fast forward a bit more to May, and McGehee was gone. Enter Matt Duffy, better known as the Duffman. A native of Long Beach, CA, Duffy was a "Dirtbag" during his college years, which was the nickname given to the CSU Long Beach baseball team. Duffy had been with San Francisco since August of 2014, and had done great, but had played as a utility infielder during April and May of 2015. But with McGehee on assignment, Duffy earned the third base job — in true "Dirtbag" style. However, those were big panda-sized shoes to fill. At this point, McGehee was irrelevant, and fans were wondering if the Duffman could potentially be the cure to their Panda Hangover. Could the Duffman really solve the Panda woes?
I would say that Matt Duffy has been an excellent cure to the Panda Hangover. San Franciscans have been a rather accepting group, and have traded in their Panda headgear for Duffman posters and costumes.
(Photo via Twitter)
But let's take a look at the numbers. In the 2015 season, Duffy has been hitting .301 with 66 RBI's and currently has the third-best batting average for NL third-basemen. And Panda, you ask? After scrolling several times down the ESPN website, there he was — sitting at number 20 of 22 on the very same list his replacement topped. He's been hitting .241 with the Red Sox, his worst batting average since 2008. Really, Panda? They're paying you just south of $100 mil for that?
Although the 24-year-old Duffy remained relatively off the radar until recently, he has certainly been doing a great job. Bench coach Ron Wotus has said that Duffy's lack of experience hasn't been a problem--he's handled his third-base position well. An article by Bleacher Report suggests that Duffy could likely be the NL's most important rookie. He has some stiff competition for the Rookie of the Year award; however, you never know what could happen if he keeps it up. But for now, it's been enjoyable watching the ascent of San Francisco's "Panda Hangover" cure, the Duffman.
Panda, who?
