From 1998 until 2007, Hall of Famer Andruw Jones anchored center field for the Atlanta Braves, taking home a Gold Glove every season and cementing his legacy as one of the greatest defenders in MLB history.
After the 2007 season, the Braves made the tough decision to let Jones walk in free agency, and while it was likely the correct decision, the Braves struggled to cement the position for the next decade.
Despite the seemingly revolving door of center fielders that would follow, the first player the Braves went with to replace the Hall of Famer, Mark Kotsay, still somehow managed to make history for the team.
Forgotten successor to Andruw Jones still etched in Braves history
Although Mark Kotsay is by no means a forgotten player, thanks in part to him going into his fifth year as manager of the Athletics, his tenure of as a Brave is largely an afterthought.
Kotsay was already past his peak as a player when he joined the club in 2008 after being dealt from Oakland for Joey Devine and prospect Jamie Richmond. The A's were even willing to eat $5.3 million of the remaining $7.3 million left on the remaining year of Kotsay's contract.
In the season before, Kotsay only played 56 games and slashed a paltry .214/.279/.296, and his health was such a question mark that the deal was delayed until he passed his physical, which happened 72 hours after the deal was first reported by insiders. Still, Atlanta had hope that he could bounce back, and with a large portion of his contract paid for by Oakland, saw him as worth the risk.
Kotsay made it through the first two months of the season without issue, and performed quite well, slashing .294/.344/.435 with a 106 wRC+. Unfortunately, a back injury in late May would knock him out for over a month. After returning, Kotsay more or less performed the same as he had prior to the injury, but an August 14 performance would put him in the Braves records book.
In his first at-bat, Kotsay tripled home Jeff Francoeur. Two innings later, the center fielder hit a solo shot to begin the fourth. In the bottom of the sixth, he would single, and in the 7th, Kotsay would double, completing the Braves first cycle in 21 years and only the second cycle in Atlanta Braves history.
Kotsay would only eight more games with the Braves, who traded him to the Red Sox. He only played 88 games for Atlanta and was one of 24 Braves players to play center field in the eight years that followed Jones's departure, but his tenure with the Braves will never fully be forgotten thanks to his one game in mid-August, and now, being the replacement to a Hall of Famer.