Giants' Sanchez Sets World Series Record
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS / AP) -- Freddy Sanchez atoned for getting doubled up by hitting more doubles.
Sanchez became the first player ever to double in his first three World Series at-bats, driving in three runs to help the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers 11-7 in Game 1 on Wednesday night.
"I think it's crazy to have my name up there with all the guys that have played in the World Series that have done that before," Sanchez said. "Obviously for no one to have done that yet, I think it's something special. For just a little guy like me to go out there and be able to do it. But getting the win was the most important thing, but that's something special and something I can enjoy along with the win."
Sanchez doubled to right field off Cliff Lee in the first inning only to get erased on the bases when he broke for third on Buster Posey's shallow fly to right field. Second baseman Ian Kinsler made an impressive running grab and easily doubled up Sanchez to help the Rangers escape the inning.
Sanchez more than made up for that blunder when he hit an RBI double down the left-field line in the third inning to score San Francisco's first run.
He followed that up with an RBI double to center field in the fifth inning to give the Giants a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish.
"We know he throws a lot of strikes," Sanchez said. "We know he's one of the best pitchers in the game, especially in the postseason. We just wanted to attack him early."
Sanchez became the 10th batter in World Series history with three doubles in one game and the first since Jacoby Ellsbury did it for Boston in Game 3 in 2007 against Colorado.
Sanchez added an RBI single in the eighth inning. The play was briefly ruled a double, which would have tied Frank Isbell's World Series record of four in a game for the White Sox in 1906, but was changed to a single and an error on right fielder Vladimir Guerrero.
Sanchez is 13 for 25 over his last six postseason games.
"Freddy is a great player," manager Bruce Bochy said. "I mean, this guy did win the batting title one year. He can hit, and he can hit good pitching, and he showed that tonight, and really throughout the playoffs."
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SHORT WAIT: While some players have to wait years to make it to the World Series, San Francisco catcher Buster Posey has gotten there as a rookie.
What makes it all the more noteworthy is that Posey is a catcher, with all the responsibilities of running a pitching staff as well as those of a middle-of-the-lineup hitter.
Posey is just the 11th rookie catcher to take a team to the World Series and first since Yadier Molina went there with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, according to Chuck Rosciam of SABR. Only four of the previous 10 rookie catchers came out on the winning side, most recently Baltimore's Andy Etchebarren in 1966.
San Francisco Game 4 starter Madison Bumgarner has also made it here as a rookie.
"We're probably a little spoiled," Posey said. "But at the same time, we understand the magnitude and how lucky we are to be here. It's something you don't take for granted."
Posey is also one of only seven rookies to regularly bat cleanup for a World Series-bound team. He hit an RBI single in the third inning or his 12th hit this postseason, extending his own rookie record.
On the other side, are players like Texas' Vladimir Guerrero, whose 2002 games were the fourth most of any active player who had not been to the World Series. Rangers third baseman Michael Young, who made his debut in 2000, also finally made it.
"I knew it was just a matter of when, and I wanted to make sure that I saw it through," Young said. "Here I am, 10 years into my career and I have an opportunity to be in the World Series. I knew it would happen. It was just when."
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BOCHY AND RYAN: Giants manager Bruce Bochy and Rangers owner Nolan Ryan were teammates for one season, in 1980 wearing the rainbow tops of the Houston Astros.
Now they are opposite sides of the World Series.
"It's going to be good to see Nolan. I don't know if I'll get a chance to say hello, where he'll be," Bochy said. "This is certainly how you thought it would work out. You didn't think I would be owning a club and he would be managing. I was fortunate to have played with Nolan."
Bochy and Ryan played on the same team, but actually never played together.
Even though Bochy was a catcher, he never was behind the plate when Ryan was on the mound. Ryan started 35 games that season, and Bochy appeared in only six of those — all after Ryan had thrown his final pitch. In one of those games, Bochy pinch-hit for Ryan in the eighth inning.
Bochy's third season in Houston was the first for Ryan there. While Ryan pitched 27 seasons in a Hall of Fame career, Bochy played 358 games in nine seasons for San Diego, Houston and the New York Mets.
"He was relentless with his workouts, and that was really at a time where the working out, the weights and conditioning probably wasn't as emphasized as it is now," Bochy said. "That's what I probably got from him as much as anything, you know, how much work you need to put into the game."
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BAY AREA VS. DALLAS: While this may be the first postseason meeting between the Rangers and Giants, there have been plenty of playoff battles between teams from Dallas and the Bay Area.
The most memorable came in football, where the Cowboys have played the 49ers seven times in the NFL playoffs. Six of those games were for the NFL championship, with Dallas winning four times. San Francisco came out on top in the most memorable of those NFC championship meetings when Joe Montana and Dwight Clark teamed up on "The Catch" to beat the Cowboys 28-27 on Jan. 10, 1982, on the way to their first Super Bowl title.
There have also been playoff meetings in other sports, with the Golden State Warriors upsetting the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 NBA playoffs. The Dallas Stars knocked the San Jose Sharks out of the NHL playoffs three times.
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WORLD SERIES STARS: The next two home games for the NHL's Dallas Stars are being played at the same time as World Series games.
The Stars want to help their fans keep up with both games.
At the American Airlines Center, Games 2 and 3 of the World Series will be shown on the external video board in an outdoor plaza. Half of the 500 television sets in public areas inside the arena will be on the Rangers games and the other half will be on the Stars game.
During the Stars' games Thursday and Saturday, World Series updates will be shown on the main scoreboard after every inning. That will include replay of highlights when available.
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AROUND THE HORN: Six of the last seven teams to win Game 1 went on to win the World Series. ... Rangers C Bengie Molina, who was traded from San Francisco on July 1, joins Lonnie Smith as the only players to ever play for both World Series teams in the same season. Smith was traded by St. Louis to Kansas City on May 17, 1985, and won it all with the Royals. Molina got a warm ovation in pregame introductions. ... If the Giants use Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner as their only starters, it would mark the first homegrown World Series rotation since 1986 when the Red Sox used Bruce Hurst, Roger Clemens, Dennis Boyd and Al Nipper against the Mets.
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