Former Tigers Imports: Jerry Sands

Name (Japanese): ジェリー・サンズ

Date of Birth: September 28, 1987

Hometown: Middletown, New York

Family Status: Married, two sons

Positions: Left Field, First Base

Height: 193 cm (6’4″)

Weight: 102 kg (225 lbs)

Throws/Bats: Right/Right

Wore #: 52

Originally Drafted by: Los Angeles Dodgers, 2008 (Round 25)

Signed With Tigers on: December 20, 2019

Top Squad Debut on: June 27, 2020 @ Yokohama (1-5, 3-run HR)

Final Top Squad Game on: September 30, 2021 vs. Carp (0-3, 2 K, RBI)

Walk-Up Song: AC/DC – Thunderstruck

Cheer Song:

Career NPB Stats:

Brief Biography:

Gerald Robert Sands was born on September 28, 1987. He grew up in the south, where he watched a lot of Atlanta Braves baseball and admired Chipper Jones among others. He also idolized Vladimir Guerrero (then of the Montreal Expos and Anaheim Angels). He attended Smithfield-Selma High School in North Carolina and moved on to Catawba College (also North Carolina). In 2008, he was drafted in the 25th round of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. A slow start in 2008 was followed by an excellent showing in the Pioneer League (Ogden Raptors) in 2009, and more production and promise at the Class-A (Great Lakes Loons) and AA (Chattanooga Lookouts) levels in 2010. After an invitation to the Dodgers’ major-league spring camp in 2011, he started the year in AAA (Albuquerque Lions), where after 10 games, he hit .400 with five home runs.

Soon thereafter, he made his major-league debut, hitting a double to left off Braves’ aging ace Tim Hudson. He bounced between the majors and minors that year, putting up excellent numbers in AAA but middling numbers in the majors. The same was true of 2012, and at season’s end, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox. Before the year was over, he was off to Pittsburgh. He played the entire 2013 season with their AAA affiliate (Indianapolis Indians) but did not impress them enough to earn a contract for 2014. The Tampa Bay Rays claimed him off waivers in the offseason, and while he spent most of the 2014 season stuck in AAA, he did get a call-up in June. He was designated for assignment again at season’s end and got picked up by the Cleveland Indians for the 2015 campaign. He managed a home run on the top squad but again spent much of the season in the minors. The next 2.5 seasons were also spent bouncing from team to team (including the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants), from minors to majors and back.

In the middle of the 2018 season, he received an offer to play in Korea for the Kiwoom Heroes, replacing a slumping Michael Choice. He played in just 25 games, but managed 12 home runs and 37 RBIs in that short amount of time. This earned him an offer for a full season contract with the Heroes, and he made the most of it, hitting 39 doubles, 28 home runs and knocking in a league-best 113 runs. In his 1.5 seasons in Korea, Sands hit over .300 and had a .965 OPS. Despite truly enjoying his time in Korea, negotiations did not go as the Heroes hoped, and Hanshin put a far superior offer on the table for him to come to Japan.

On December 20, 2019, the Tigers announced Sands’ signing. The team already had Jefry Marte, plus had signed Justin Bour to a big contract the previous week, so Sands came to the country as a potential back-up in case the team needed firepower. When the 2020 season started late, Sands found himself on the outside looking in, having produced good numbers against the SoftBank Hawks in preseason games but not much outside of that. The season was delayed by three months due to the spread of Covid-19, but on Opening Day, the Tigers elected to play Marte at third and Bour at first, with three import pitchers on the top squad as well, thus keeping Sands on the farm. When the team got off to a terrible start (they were 1-6 through their first seven games), Sands got called up in an attempt to spark the offense. The team was in Yokohama, and with Sands not producing in his first four at-bats, looked set to lose again. Down a run in the top of the ninth with Baystars closer Yasuaki Yamasaki on the mound, Sands stepped up to the plate with two men on and belted a ball into the empty left-field stands, setting off an eruption of joy on the Tigers bench. The team would go on to win that game but lose four straight immediately after that.

Fortunately, the team straightened their season out, and Sands played a huge part in that. His hits and home runs always seemed to be perfectly-timed, and at one point, he led NPB in average with runners in scoring position. He and Bour hit grand slams in the same game against the Swallows in late July, and at the end of the following month, Sands hit his first NPB walk-off home run against those same Swallows. His trademark “Happy Hands” celebration led to the creation of a cheering towel, which soon became a best-seller at the team’s official merchandise store. Helping boost sales were his home runs in three straight games (August 31-September 2), which made him the first first-year import in two decades to accomplish the feat (Tony Tarasco was the last to do it in 2000).

Unfortunately, Sands’ production ground to an abrupt halt in the middle of September, as he had just one home run in the team’s final 52 games. Nevertheless, his first-half production was more than enough to get him an invite back to the team in 2021. He rewarded the team’s trust in him with a two-home run performance (including the game-winner) on Opening Day (March 26) against the Swallows. His clutch ways from the previous season continued as he hit game-winning home runs against the Dragons (May 13) and then almost single-handedly beat the Giants on June 18 (grand slam, five RBI). Though he was not named to the all-star team, Sands elected to stay in Japan for the Olympic break and played in most of the team’s exhibition games. He came out of the gates flying once again, knocking two balls into the upper deck (the second of which traveled an estimated 150 meters = 492 feet) at Kyocera Dome against the Carp on August 14, but unfortunately, his second-half closely resembled the one he had in 2020. Once again, he hit just one home run in the team’s final 57 games. It should be noted, though, that he spent much of that stretch on the farm. Though he was not placed on the roster for the team’s first-round playoff series against the Giants, Sands still stayed in Japan, making himself available in case his services would be needed due to injury or the team advancing to the second round. Neither scenario played out, and Sands left the country in early November. The club announced his release on November 26 when it became apparent that Marte would return for a fourth season.

Sands was not only a fan favorite for his hustle, clutch play and fun celebrations, but also because he imparted a lot of valuable baseball knowledge to rookie Teruaki Sato among others. Always approachable and possessing a good baseball mind, Sands was a popular teammate. His time with the club may have been a short two years, but his place in fans’ hearts will surely remain for much longer.

Related Articles:

Jerry Sands Interview Transcript (February 2021)

Episode 121: Catching Up; Sands Interview (February 17, 2021)

Suarez, Bour, Sands Press Conferences (January 27, 2020)

Tigers Add RP Suarez, OF Sands to Squad (December 20, 2019)