Pablo Sandoval wrote an essay for The Players' Tribune about his experience playing for the Boston Red Sox and returning to the San Francisco Giants.

"I thought back to when San Francisco signed me to my first contract at 16 years old," wrote Sandoval about the moment he was called up to return to the Giants. "I wanted to be a Giant forever. Then I thought about being released by the Red Sox last month and doing everything in my power to get back to San Francisco. It was a lot of emotion."

Sandoval signed with the Red Sox on a five-year, $95 million contract, but "it just never felt like home."

"I had the greatest times of my life in San Francisco. And when I chose to leave, I left the special group of guys that I had shared those times with. I left behind the chemistry I had built with my teammates. I left behind a dynasty.

"And I think that’s another reason I struggled so much the last couple of years: Because every day I spent in Boston, my heart was still back in San Francisco."