Revisit the San Francisco Giants’ Eight Grand Slams in 2015
Jul 21, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher
Hector Sanchez(29) hits a sixth inning grand slam home run against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Remember Dale Thayer throwing his gum? This is what started it all.
In the sixth inning of a 5-0 game, Sanchez stepped in to face Thayer with Giants at every base. Thayer threw an 0-1 fastball right down the middle, and Sanchez, another much embattled player like McGehee, took a big swing, and launched it into the right field bleachers for his first, and thus far, only home run of 2015.
Sanchez, who’s battled concussions and demotions over the past couple of years, stood for a second and admired his handiwork before tossing away his bat and making his way around the bases. Thayer, unhappy that a guy who just blasted a grand slam off him was adding insult to injury, took the gum right out of his mouth and threw it at Sanchez as he ran to first. Indicative of the performance that eventually got him demoted, Thayer missed his target.
Benches eventually cleared in the ninth inning when new Padres’ reliever Shawn Kelley had some words with Sanchez after he grounded out (we’ll just assume he said “hey man, nice shot” and everyone wanted to hug it out). Things were heated, but no one could take away Sanchez’s second career grand slam.
And one funny coincidence, half of the Giants’ first six grand slams gave them a 9-0 lead.
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