Matt Freed, Post-Gazette
Pirate Freddy Sanchez waves to the crowd at Tuesday's All-Star Game at PNC Park.
Click photo for larger image.

Freddy Sanchez looked a little tired as he welcomed visitors into his sunny living room Thursday.

It's probably a residual effect of playing in Tuesday's All-Star Game. The past few weeks, he says with a grin, have been "crazy." The Pirates third baseman and his wife, Alissa, have barely had time to unwrap the congratulatory gift baskets scattered around their Mars apartment.

"The atmosphere at PNC Park was unbelievable .... It was special," he said.

Or maybe it's just the everyday demands of fatherhood. Ten feet away, 14-month-old Evan Sanchez is toddling about in front of the gas fireplace. Back and forth he goes, side to side, up and down, a tiny bundle of boundless, giggling energy. He moves a little like his dad, who wowed the crowd Tuesday with a leapfrog catch of Mark Loretta's liner in the fifth inning.

"He's always moving," says Mrs. Sanchez, laughing. "All he wants to do is crawl."

Much has been made in recent weeks of Mr. Sanchez's ability on the ball field. Though he started the season as a utility infielder, he's proved himself one of the team's emerging stars. With an average of .358 going into last night's game against Washington, he's tied for the National League lead in batting.

What's less known is the fact that the 28-year-old Hollywood native is a devoted family man and something of a homebody when not on the diamond. He's been married for almost four years to his high-school sweetheart (she was a cheerleader at Burbank High).

Bill Wade, Post-Gazette
Sanchez and wife Alissa watch 14-month-old son Evan take his first swings at the bat.
Click photo for larger image.

He spends his time off lounging with his wife and son around the pool or catching a quiet meal at Outback Steakhouse. The Sanchezes have even arranged the baby's schedule so it mirrors his dad's crazy hours: to bed after midnight, up around noon.

"I want to be able to see him," he says, sipping Crystal Light fruit punch.

The family's apartment in a gated community is a surprisingly unassuming vanilla-white space awash in a sea of brightly colored plastic toys. One of the most conspicuous is a Little Tikes T-ball set near the coffee table. Are we setting the stage here or what?

"You gotta get 'em going early," Mr. Sanchez says with a chuckle, recalling how he started playing catch with his father, Fred, at about age 3.

Not wanting to have to patch walls, the couple have opted against any framed prints or other wall art. Nearly everything in the apartment -- from the furniture to the pots and pans in the kitchen -- is rented. All of their own stuff is in their "real" house, a four-bedroom ranch in Chandler, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, that they bought last fall.

"This is our home away from home," says Mrs. Sanchez, 27.

The two-bedroom apartment is exactly the right size for a family of three, especially when you figure that for three months, Mr. Sanchez is on the road. The kitchen counter is empty but for a package of hot dog buns and a couple of signs of Mr. Sanchez's sweet tooth: boxes of Corn Pops and Froot Loops.

Mrs. Sanchez's culinary skills are pretty limited, she says, so they tend to either eat out or dine on easy stuff such as quesadillas and grilled cheese.

"If I had a normal life, maybe I'd cook more," she says.

It's a utilitarian residence, to be sure. But it's a far cry from the crowded apartment the couple shared with another ball player and his girlfriend earlier in his career, when Mr. Sanchez was earning less than $700 a month in the minors.

"It's tough," says his wife, who helped pay bills by bartending and waiting tables. "You have to live with another couple or you can't make it."

And when he finally made it to the majors? You might think an up-and-coming player like Mr. Sanchez might opt for one of those fancy McMansions. Yet only a handful of Pirates actually own homes in Pittsburgh, he says, including his good friend Jason Bay, who last year signed a four-year, $18.25 million contract and owns a second house 15 minutes away from theirs in Arizona.

Given the fickle nature of management, "you don't know where you'll be year to year, so it's pointless to buy," he explained.

Besides, if you're on the bottom end of the pay scale like he is, it's tough to handle two mortgages. So most of the players choose to rent during the regular season, which runs from April to September.

When Mr. Sanchez was called up to the Pirates in September 2004, he and his wife bunked briefly with Jack Wilson and his wife, Julie, in this same complex, before moving on to an apartment in Wexford. The two men played together on a summer league in high school and have been best friends ever since.

They stayed there until Evan came along, and their lives changed again. Mrs. Sanchez said they had to start thinking about things like stairs and having a nice place outdoors to play.

"This place, we can go on walks in the woods or to the pool, and it's not crowded," she says. "And Freddy doesn't have to worry about us when he's on the road."

Like most major leaguers, he fell in love with the game early. But he was the ultimate long shot. Born with a club right foot and a severely pigeon-toed left foot, Sanchez had to have surgery when he was 13 months old, followed by years of therapy. Doctors initially thought he might never walk properly, let alone run bases.

He doesn't really remember those daily trips to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles with his mother, Michelle, or the casts, walker and special shoes with metal bars he was forced to wear.

"I just go by the stories," he says. "I don't remember being any different."

By elementary school, he was running around like everyone else, and by age 12, he knew baseball was what he wanted to do. His quote in his sixth-grade yearbook, Mrs. Sanchez says, was his dream to "be drafted into pro baseball right out of high school." And wouldn't you know it, he was.

After a stellar varsity career, in which he hit .419 during his senior year, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 30th round. He instead decided to play college ball.

After a senior year at Oklahoma City University, where he hit .434 and was named a NAIA All-American, Mr. Sanchez was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 11th round. He was traded to the Pirates in July 2003, only to hurt himself in his first game with a farm club. Severe tendonitis on his right ankle led to surgery and cost him nearly two full seasons of play.

He was Joe Randa's backup this year until Mr. Randa broke his foot May 1. Mr. Sanchez started hitting, and the rest is history.

Although he obviously has natural talent, his wife has another explanation for his success, which resulted in 856,685 write-in votes for the All-Stars.

"He's always been so driven," she says. "We knew if given the opportunity, Freddy would get there. He's 110 percent on and off the field. He always gets there early and stays late."

First Published: July 15, 2006, 4:00 a.m.