SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — “Wow!”
That was Justin Verlander’s reaction, caught on national TV cameras, to Pablo Sandoval’s second home run in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series. It was a moment Giants fans — and Tigers fans, for that matter — will never forget.
Sandoval went on to hit a third homer off Al Alburquerque to join baseball royalty — Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, and Albert Pujols had been the only players to homer three times in a World Series game. Sandoval was the first to hit the trifecta his first three at-bats.
The Giants swept the Tigers, winning their second of three championships in a five-year span, and Sandoval was named World Series MVP.
Here’s another “wow” moment: Both Sandoval and Verlander are now together in Giants camp — Sandoval as a guest instructor (Saturday was his second day suiting up), and Verlander as a top-end rotation piece after signing a one-year, $15 million contract.
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It’s a peculiar dynamic that has Giants fans wondering how each is handling the other’s presence.
“I don’t bring it up,” Sandoval said of his World Series moment against Verlander. “When you respect a player, a guy who’s still playing, throwing the ball the way he does, you don’t bring old memories to his head. It’s going to be there forever, but you don’t bring it to the guy when you respect a guy.”
Fair enough. Verlander, 42, is a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer who wants to keep pitching beyond 2025. Sandoval, 38, is still playing, too, but in independent ball; he plans to return to the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League after appearing in 120 games last season.
In an interview last week with The Standard, Verlander was asked if he ever flashes back to Sandoval’s performance in the 2012 World Series opener, especially now that he’s a Giant, “I try not to,” he said. “Look, you play long enough, there are going to be a lot of good moments, a lot of bad moments. You try not to focus on the bad ones.”
Sandoval wasn’t about to rub it in. Verlander wasn’t about to shed more light on it. Same for the 2012 All-Star Game in which he gave up a bases-loaded, first-inning triple to the free-swinging Sandoval.
Both are veterans focusing on the here and now, and both seem to be in a good place. Sandoval brought his usual “Kung-fu Panda” exuberance to spring training and is working with players in both big-league and minor-league camps, and Verlander has been dominant as he prepares to open the season as the No. 2 starter behind Logan Webb.
Sandoval said he reached out to new president of baseball operations Buster Posey during the winter meetings to congratulate him and again later in the winter, offering to help the organization in any way, especially when it comes to tutoring young players.
“I know he’ll do a great job to build a winning team,” Sandoval said of Posey. “One thing he told me: Be you. Don’t stop doing that.”
Sandoval didn’t rule out becoming a full-time coach one day, though he said he’d need approval from his family. One reason he continues to play: his 8-year-old son enjoys watching him. Aside from his time in independent ball last year, he participated in a new league in Dubai.
He last appeared in the majors with the 2021 Braves, who won the World Series, and last spring was a non-rosterman in Giants camp. A year later, he’s paying it forward as a guest instructor, one of many Posey invited, a decision that has been well received as waves of former Giants have visited to be available to current players.
Pablo Sandoval grateful that old teammate Buster Posey allowed him to be part of Giants camp as a guest instructor pic.twitter.com/m6p0lXOlWv
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) March 15, 2025
“There always are new challenges in life,” Sandoval said. “It’s an opportunity to be in a special group. The things Buster’s been doing, bringing the old [players] here to give the young players a little taste of the guys who’ve been part of those championships, it’s been a blessing. They’re building things for the better, and to be part of this is special.”
That includes sharing a clubhouse with Verlander.
“I respect Justin. He’s a great pitcher. He’s a great ballplayer,” Sandoval said. “What he’s doing with other pitchers, spending time with the young guys, is special.”