Each series throughout the season, we will highlight a former player who donned a Braves jersey and also suited up for Atlanta’s current opponent. The Braves start a weekend series with the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. Let's take a look back on a player who once called Hollywood and Atlanta home.
As always, there are always several options we could choose but we typically like to stay on the obscure side and bring back memories you forgot you had. Freddie Freeman is the obvious thought but what about third baseman Juan Uribe?
Uribe with the Dodgers
Juan Uribe spent the majority of his MLB career (5 seasons) with the Dodgers. He was in LA from 2011-2015. Over this stretch, Uribe was a .260 hitter with 28 home runs and 155 runs batted in.
While in Dodger blue in 2013, Uribe broke the heart of Atlanta Braves fans everywhere. In a playoff matchup, Uribe was tasked with trying to lay down a sacrifice bunt down in a one run game. After unsuccessfuly advancing the runner and accuring two strikes, Uribe belted a go-ahead two run homer that turned out to be the game winner and capped off a Dodgers series win.
Uribe with the Braves
Uribe joined the Braves in the rebuilding phase in the 2015 season. This was his only season in Atlanta and only played 46 games with the organization before moving on to the NL East rival New York Mets. With Atlanta, Uribe was a .285 hitter with 7 home runs and 17 runs batted in.
Much like other veterans during that era, Uribe was brought in by the Braves as a veteran leader to help guide the younger guys at the time and he professionally did his job.
Uribe's career
Juan Uribe is no doubt one of those under-appreciated players that too many people will forget about. He bounced around quite a bit in his MLB career and never won an individual award.
However, Uribe seemed to always compliment his teammates well and buy into his role regardless of the team he was a part of. Though he doesn't have any individual accolade, Uribe was part of two World Series championships (one with the White Sox and one with the Giants) and there is no doubt he made his fair share of controbutions to assist those squads in winning the Fall Classic.