Atlanta Braves – The Legacy of Nick Markakis (Cont’d)
As baseball began and the fans were able to process their emotions toward the team a little better, we began to enjoy what we were being given that season. I still had to watch…you have to!
Markakis was not a prolific home run hitter by any means. Unfortunately, that can be a determining factor in how recognized a baseball player is by the general public. We got one heck of a player. Over his nine seasons in Baltimore Markakis trailed only Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki in singles with 1,074.
During that time he registered the ninth most doubles, a .358 OBP, a .290 BA, and of players with at least 5,000 plate appearances he posted the eighth-lowest strikeout percentage between 2006-2014, one spot better than the great Derek Jeter.
He gave the Braves exactly what they signed up for when they handed him his four-year, $44 million contract. He continued to amass doubles. During his years with the Braves, he and Freddie Freeman tied for the sixth-most doubles in the league with 183.
He hit .283 as a Brave, his 10.2% walk rate was better than players like Jose Ramirez and J.D. Martinez. He improved his stellar .358 OBP by one point as a Brave.
He earned his lone all-star appearance as an Atlanta Brave in 2018 when he hit .297 with 43 doubles. He was also awarded the third Gold Glove of his career that season.
He helped steer a vessel full of placeholders (in many cases) through the rocky waters until a new crop of stars reached the big leagues. Markakis was a professional and a role-model in his time with the Braves. He gave many of us a player to cheer for in a dark time.
To this day, my son’s favorite player is Nick Markakis, and ever since 2015 he has requested the number 22 on each of his little league teams…One time he had to settle for Freddie Freeman’s number five.
Things my son learned from watching Markakis: “Be patient, don’t give away at-bats, hit lots of line-drives, and if John Hart ever yells at your dad until he’s about to cry, you threaten to kick his a–.”
He was and still is the epitome of the phrase “that’s a professional at-bat.”