Kotsay Hits For The Cycle

Written by Jonathan on August 15, 2008 – 10:31 am

In a season where finding a highlight is hard at times, last night, Mark Kotsay made it easy to find one despite the Braves falling to the Cubs 11-7.  With his double in the bottom of the 7th inning, Kotsay became the first Braves batter to hit for the cycle since Albert Hall did so on September 23rd, 1987.  In fact, Kotsay and Hall are the only two batters in Atlanta Braves history to accomplish the feat.

Kotsay started with a triple in the second, then a fourth-inning homer, a single in the sixth and then the double in the seventh.  The double that gave him the cycle was also his 1500th career hit.  Kotsay went on to tack on another single to go 5-5 on the night.

In other Braves news, Francisley Bueno has been issued a 3-game suspension for throwing a first-pitch fastball behind the Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano’s head Wednesday night.  Bueno has also been optioned back to Richmond, so the suspension will not take effect until he returns to the majors.  He has since filed an appeal.

Let’s celebrate the little things right now.  Congratulations go out to Mark Kotsay and a big thanks for providing some much needed excitement to the Braves right now.


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Posted in General |

Second Round of Cuts, Javy Retires

Written by Colin on March 22, 2008 – 7:11 pm

The Braves cut Javy Lopez and six other players today from their Spring Training roster, prompting Javy to announce his retirement and end his comeback bid.  Bobby Cox revealed that Javy lost the battle for the backup catcher position because his arm wasn’t strong enough.  Cox spoke with the catcher about starting the season in the minors, but Javy decided against it and announced his retirement.

Fans will be disappointed to see Javy go - his seasons in the late 90s with Atlanta will be remembered as his prime, when he consistently made the All Star team and put together a reputation based on his offensive firepower.  He’ll retire with a .287 average, 260 home runs, and 864 RBIs.  Javy, thanks for the great seasons from 1992 through 2003.

Also cut from the roster today were outfield prospect Jordan Schafer, Brandon Jones, Ryan Drese, Jorge Campillo, Francisley Bueno, and of course the woeful Jo-Jo Reyes.  None of these are very surprising - they all need more work before they can compete at the big league level.  We’ll hope the bad spring won’t discourage Jo-Jo Reyes, who has potential but cannot for the life of him put together a decent string of outings.  We’ll see Schafer here next year (or towards the end of the year) for sure.  Brandon Jones is talented but needs more patience at the plate before he’s ready.

On we move through spring training - we’ll have more on cuts as they come.


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Posted in Roster Moves |

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