Panda heads put away with Sandoval's departure

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The fans in San Francisco's front row who wore oversized panda heads in honor of Pablo Sandoval are putting them away now that he's left the World Series champion Giants for a $95 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.

Sam Li was often inside one of the four humongous panda heads. He said Wednesday he and his bamboo-eating buddies have decided they must find a new way to honor their team. They had worn those heads in tribute to Sandoval, nicknamed ''Kung Fu Panda'' by teammate Barry Zito in September 2008.

Sam Li says in an email to The Associated Press that his friends became Giants fans while attending college at California-Berkeley across the bay and found the ''original head'' on Amazon.com for about $130. They acquired the rest from a toy manufacturer who is a friend of Li's.

He adds: ''Good luck to Pablo, and we will watch Boston with interest.''