Sergio Romo
San Francisco Giants – No. 54
Pitcher
Born: (1983-03-04) March 4, 1983 (age 29) Brawley, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 26, 2008 for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics (through May 23, 2012)
Win-loss record	18–7
Earned run average	2.20
Strikeouts	233
Teams
San Francisco Giants (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2010)

Sergio Francisco Romo (born March 4, 1983) is a American right-handed professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League baseball.

Early life[link]

Romo was born in Brawley, California to Mexican immigrant parents. He graduated from Brawley Union High School in 2001, having played shortstop and third baseman on the baseball team.^[1]

College career[link]

After transferring from Arizona Western College, Romo played NCAA Division II baseball at two colleges: the University of North Alabama (2004) and Mesa State College (2005). Romo was named to the All-Region I second team of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference in 2002 and 2003. In 159 innings, Romo made a 16-4 overall record with a 2.79 earned run average (ERA).^[2][3] He was named First-Team All-Gulf South Conference in 2004 while playing for North Alabama and was 10-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 97.1 innings.^[3] In his senior year with Mesa State, he was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year.^[4] In 2009, the RMAC named Romo "All-Time Top Pitcher."^[5]

Professional career[link]

Romo was drafted by the Giants in the 28th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

Romo had his contract purchased from Double-A Connecticut by the San Francisco Giants on June 24, 2008. He made his debut on June 26, 2008, against the Cleveland Indians, striking out two in an inning pitched. Romo was designated for assignment on August 6, and was eventually sent to the minors, but was recalled on August 16, 2008. He played winter baseball with the Aguilas de Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific League. In nine relief appearances, Romo made six of seven attempted saves and a 2.89 ERA.^[6]

Romo started the 2009 season on the disabled list, and was activated on May 30, 2009. He completed his first major league save on July 7, 2009 against the Florida Marlins. He got the last two outs of the game, both of which were via the strikeout.

In 2010, Romo was part of the San Francisco World Series team, acting as the team's primary setup man through much of the season. He gained notoreity for being one of the team's "Beards", along with LHP Jeremy Affeldt and closer Brian Wilson.^[7] In the National League Division Series, Romo gave up three runs in two-thirds of an inning pitched, but through the National League Championship Series and World Series, he pitched 3 scoreless innings.^[8]

In 2011, Romo became the fifth reliever to throw 9 or more consecutive perfect innings, retiring thirty straight batters in 10 innings over a span of fourteen games. His stat line for the year was: 1.50 ERA, 13.1 K/9, and .9 BB/9. ^[9][10] His 2011 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) of 0.91 remains the best of all Major League relief pitchers for the season.^[11]

In 2012, Romo did not allow an earned run until the 17th of May.

Romo features three pitches: a slider that sits 75-79 mph which he uses against right handed batters, a two seam fastball sitting 88-90, and a change up which he uses against left handed hitters, sitting 80-83.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Pablo E Sandoval
Pablo Sandoval tagging a player at 3rd base
San Francisco Giants – No. #48
3rd Baseman/1st Baseman
Born: (1986-08-11) August 11, 1986 (age 25) Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right[1]
MLB debut
August 14, 2008 for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics (through May 03, 2012)
Batting average	.308
Hits	554
Home runs	69
Runs batted in	262
On base percentage	.357
Slugging percentage	.502
Teams
San Francisco Giants (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2010) All Star selection (2011) Hit for the cycle (September 15th, 2011) NL Player of the Week (2011)

Pablo E. Sandoval (born August 11, 1986), nicknamed Kung Fu Panda,^[2] is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Sandoval is a 5'11", 237 pound switch hitter. He was born left handed, but did not want to have to play outfield all of his career. He therefore taught himself to throw right handed as well. He can still throw with both hands, but throws right handed during games.^[1]

Minor leagues[link]

Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002, Sandoval began his professional career as a catcher in 2004 with the AZL Giants, hitting .266 with no home runs and 26 RBIs in 177 at bats.

In 2005, he was used almost entirely as a third baseman while playing for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. He hit .330 with three home runs and 50 RBIs. His batting average slumped in 2006 to .265. He had one home run and 49 RBIs with the Augusta GreenJackets that year, splitting time between first and third base. In 2007, he played for the San Jose Giants, hitting .287 with 11 homers and 52 RBIs. That season, he was used as a catcher and first baseman.

In 2008, he spent time with two minor league teams, the Single-A San Jose Giants and the Double-A Connecticut Defenders, before being called up to the majors. In 273 at bats for San Jose, he hit .359 with 12 home runs and 59 RBIs. In 175 at bats with Connecticut, he hit .337 with 8 homers and 37 RBIs. In total, he hit .350 with 20 home runs and 96 RBIs in 2008.

Major leagues[link]

Sandoval was called up to the Majors on August 13, 2008. He debuted the next day, August 14, going 0-for-3. In his first MLB plate appearance, he hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI. He got his first hit in the second inning of his next game, August 16, on his way to going 3-for-5. In 41 games in 2008, he hit .345 with 3 home runs and 24 RBI, striking out only 14 times in 154 at-bats. He hit his first MLB home run on August 27 off of Livan Hernandez of the Colorado Rockies.

On defense, the Giants have used him as a catcher for pitcher Barry Zito,^[3] who gave Sandoval the nickname Kung Fu Panda.^[2] He received the nickname after a play on September 19, 2008, where he scored a run against the Los Angeles Dodgers by jumping over the tag of catcher Danny Ardoin, scoring from second base on a single by Bengie Molina.^[4]

In 2009 spring training, he batted .457, leading all batters with 80 or more at bats.^[5] On May 12, 2009, Sandoval hit his first walk-off home run to beat the Washington Nationals 9–7. In 2008, he had 145 at bats, he batted .345, while hitting into only 6 double-plays. After 73 games played, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler wrote that Sandoval had made the most impressive transition from the Giants farm system since 1986 when Will Clark and Robby Thompson were rookies.^[6]

Sandoval's first days in the majors were marked by a tendency to free swing. Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford noted that Sandoval contributed to the team's drawing the fewest walks in the National League at a time when the overall number of walks throughout baseball had increased. "As much as I try to get him to be disciplined, it's like caging a lion. He leaves the dugout ready to swing the bat. I literally tell him before every at-bat, 'Swing at a strike."^[7] Sandoval himself characterized his approach as: "See ball, swing." In July 2009, he was named a Sprint Final Vote candidate for the 80th annual All-Star Game for the final roster spot on the National League team.^[8] He was beat out by Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies on the last day of voting.^[9]

On July 6, 2009, Sandoval hit his first career grand slam at home at AT&T Park against the visiting Florida Marlins.

On July 30, 2009, Sandoval hit his first home run into McCovey Cove on Willie McCovey's 50th anniversary of his MLB Debut with McCovey in attendance. At the time of the home run, McCovey was being interviewed by Giants commentators Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow on the Giant's flagship station CSN Bay Area. Sandoval also made Giants history for most hits by a Giants switch-hitter in a single season with 189 in 2009.

Sandoval finished the 2009 season with the second-highest batting average among NL hitters, at .330, and finished seventh in NL MVP voting.^[10]

Sandoval, however, saw a sophomore slump in 2010, with a .268 batting average, 13 home runs, and 63 RBI. Sandoval hired Triple Threat Performance of Tempe, AZ to help him lose weight over the offseason and to help improve his performance.^[11] By the time that Spring Training started he had lost a reported 38 pounds.^[12] In his first three 2011 Spring Training games, Sandoval connected for 2 home runs.

Entering 2011, the Giants made a publicized campaign called "Operation Panda," which was aimed at getting Sandoval into better shape during the offseason and shedding the extra pounds.^[13] "Operation Panda" worked masterfully, with the third baseman losing 30-plus pounds, and more importantly, it led to results on the field for Sandoval. After a subpar 2010 season, Sandoval returned to 2009 form. He got off to a good start in 2011 but however suffered a broken hamate bone in late April and missed 4–6 weeks. On July 10, 2011, Sandoval was selected to the National League All-Star team. In his first All-Star at bat, Sandoval hit an RBI ground-rule double and NL won 2011 MLB All-Star Game.

On September 15, 2011, Sandoval hit for the cycle at Colorado against pitcher Jhoulys Chacin. He had (in order) a two-run HR in the 1st, single in the 2nd, double in the 5th and a triple in the 6th.^[14] On September 19, 2011, Sandoval earned his first career "NL Player of the Week" Award.^[15] In 2011, Sandoval hit .315 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI's, which is a significant improvement from 2010. He only had 462 at-bats which is a lot less than his other at-bat season totals in 2009, and 2010.

On April 26, 2012, Pablo Sandoval hit a single in the 4th inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. This was the 19th consecutive game since Opening Day in which Sandoval had a hit, setting a Giants franchise record for longest consecutive hitting streak to begin a season. The previous record - of 18 games - was set by Johnny Rucker in 1945.^[16]

Personal[link]

Sandoval was born in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, Venezuela.^[17] Sandoval is a devout Roman Catholic, and blesses himself after each base hit. He attributes his success to his faith, saying it is important to be “seizing the opportunities offered in life by God and the need to fight tirelessly, not to survive but to excel.”^[18]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Pablo Sandoval on Twitter
• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Keenan Cahill (March 1995) is a Internet celebrity from Elmhurst, Illinois whose lip-syncing of popular songs has brought his videos on YouTube to some of the most viewed online videos. Guest artists on his channel have included WWE star The Miz, rapper 50 cent, Maroon 5 in January 2011,^[1] and Jersey Shore's Paul DelVecchio in February 2011.^[2] In March 2011, at a Danish award show, TV 2 Zulu Awards 2011, he performed in a video where he was lip-synching the songs which were nominated for the Hit of the Year award. In April 2011, Cahill appeared with Brian Wilson and Cody Ross of the San Francisco Giants performing Taio Cruz's hit, "Dynamite".^[3] In June 2011, he appeared with LMFAO performing their song "Party Rock Anthem".^[4] In July 2011, Tinie Tempah appeared in one of his videos after Cahill was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Choice Web Star. During her California Dreams Tour, Katy Perry met Keenan and they performed Teenage Dream together in a video. In August 2011, Cody Simpson appeared on one of his YouTube videos. Also in that month, a war of words via Twitter between Cahill and WWE Superstar The Miz culminated in the two facing off in a "lip-sync battle" with the chosen song being The Miz's WWE entrance theme ("I Came to Play" by Downstait). As of September 2011^[update], Keenan has a pending nomination for Viral Web Star at the J-14 Awards. Keenan had a one-hour documentary air on NT1 (television) in France, Belgium and Switzerland to 5-million people. He later had a 13-minute documentary air on M6 in France.

Career[link]

Cahill launched his first famous lipsynced YouTube video on August 28, 2010 on the Katy Perry song Teenage Dream.

Cahill's Internet success first was reported in early 2011 around the same time that he was featured on MTV and Chelsea Lately.^[5] On May 3, 2011, he appeared on the after show special for Sirius/XM's The Opie & Anthony Show. He was interviewed briefly by Primetime Sam Roberts and filmed by Opie for his YouTube channel opieradio. On May 13, 2011 he sang with G-Unit Records.

In July 2011, Cahill was joined backstage of Glee! Live by cast members Dianna Agron, Harry Shum, Jr., Darren Criss, and Jenna Ushkowitz to lip-sync to the Glee version of "Don't Stop Believin'".^[6] He has also worked with Drake Bell, Katy Perry, the WWE superstars John Morrison and The Miz, and many others.

In fall 2011, Cahill performed in a music video with The Oak Ridge Boys for their song "What'cha Gonna Do"^[7]

Personal life[link]

Cahill has Maroteaux–Lamy syndrome, which in his case and some other cases result in individuals developing an appearance much like that of people suffering from dwarfism (Cahill is 4' 2" tall), including thickening of the dura (the membrane that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord), shortened trunk, crouched stance, and restricted joint movement. To many, he appears to be developmentally disabled, but this is not true. The misconception stems from the disproportion of his small body and large hands. Many with Maroteux-Lamy also have umbilical hernia or inguinal hernias.

Diagnosed at the age of one, Cahill was treated with a bone marrow transplant in 1997 to slow down the progression of the disease, and he has had multiple surgeries, including surgery to relieve intracranial pressure.^[8]

Just Love[link]

In June 2011, Cahill released his first clothing brand "Just Love Apparel" created around his "hearts" symbol he uses in his videos. Keenan was seen wearing a shirt from Just Love during his appearance on America's Got Talent on August 10, 2011. Just Love is also a quote from the song "Teenage Dream", which was featured in one of his first buzzed-about videos.

Impersonations[link]

Guest Appearances[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Teen YouTube Sensation Keenan Cahill Battles Rare Disorder