Next up on the tour of Miami Marlins All-Time All-Stars, we bring you the seemingly deep, but surprisingly shallow position of first base.
Some of you probably saw that former Miami Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez was showing up for MLB’s All-Star FanFest next weekend.
Even more than a few of you were probably wondering exactly why that happened to be the case.
Turns out he made the MLB All-Star Game once. And make no mistake, he was outright picked. Giancarlo Stanton played in 150 games that season and hit over 30 HRs, and didn’t warrant a second look. Out of names like Stanton, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, and Anibal Sanchez…Gaby Sanchez was the lone Miami Marlins All-Star in 2011.
Why Gaby Sanchez?
Now, that 2011 selection, it actually wasn’t that surprising. Johnson went down early in the season with a major injury. Sanchez was consistent but not excellent. Stanton was a victim of circumstance, running into a trio of outfielders from bigger baseball markets that all finished in the Top 10 in MVP voting that season.
The fact it was only his second year in the majors cost him in fan and peer vote alike, shutting him out of the roster in what was easily the second best season of his career.
Ramirez, who had made the three previous All-Star Games, simply had his worst season as a professional athlete.
Add it all up, throw in a blistering first half, and Sanchez was tapped to represent Miami. Heading into that All-Star Game, he was batting .293 with 13 HR and 50 RBI. For half of that season, he was far and away the most reliable bat in the Miami Marlins lineup.
Career With The Marlins
For his career, Sanchez spent parts of five seasons on the Marlins roster. That All-Star effort in 2011 would be the last complete season he’d play though, as he ended up being one of the first roster casualties of that disastrous 2012 campaign.
There wasn’t really a lot of outcry over the move either. After closing out 2011 with a .225 average, not to mention only half the offensive counting stats, he was hitting a horrendous .202 at the time he was dealt.
Much like Charles Johnson though, he was a local favorite. Sanchez played both his high school and college ball in Miami. And like CJ, was a Hurricane alum. Plus, unlike many of the names that will grace this list, he was kind enough to have his best seasons as a Marlin.
Of all the turbulent trades in Miami Marlins history that involved shipping off an All-Star, sending Gaby Sanchez off to Pittsburgh is far and away the least regrettable. But from 2010 to 2011, he was a stable homegrown presence in the Marlins lineup, and the best first baseman to man the position since 2003.
MIAMI – OCTOBER 21: Juan Pierre /
Best Marlins All-Star Season At First….Yeah, It’s Still Gaby Sanchez
Made you look! Turns out the only Miami Marlins first baseman to ever make the MLB All-Star Game is Gaby Sanchez.
I have a hunch some of you are wondering just how in the world that is possible.
It’s a fair question. Most of us remember Jeff Conine just as much for playing first base as we do for playing the outfield. Younger readers are probably aware Miguel Cabrera plays first base and used to play for the Marlins.
He’s only going to go down as one of the best to ever play the game of baseball. Carlos Delgado batted over .300 with 33 HR and 115 RBI in 2005.
And then there is Derrek Lee, only the best first baseman in franchise history.
Three of them played for World Series champions. One of them won three Gold Glove Awards, another two MVP awards. Seventeen All-Star appearances are shared between them.
But what else do all four have in common? They never made an All-Star Game as a Marlin at first base.
The All-Most All-Star Marlins First Basemen
Two of them never made an All-Star Game as a Marlin period. Lee was a victim of sharing a League with Todd Helton and Richie Sexson, as well as having saved his best Marlins season for a year three other Fish made it. Four Marlins teammates pushed Delgado out in 2005.
Cabrera never played a game at first in his Marlins career. Conine didn’t start getting the majority of his looks at first until 1997. So, incomprehensible as it might be, Sanchez technically has to be the guy on both lists.
As this is all about honoring former greats though, consider who would get your vote if we dabble in some revisionist history. If we were merely to correct an injustice, Lee’s 2003 Gold Glove has me penciling him into the All-Time lineup.
Should we hold ourselves to the rule of having made the All-Star Game roster, but throw in having the ability to play the position, then it’s Conine by a mile. His .319 average in 1994 stands as the best hitting season by a Miami first baseman.
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