The Oakland A’s have a new manager in Mark Kotsay, and as a fun bonus, he used to play for the team. He spent four seasons with the A’s as an outfielder from 2004-07.
For some folks that might seem like just yesterday, but 2007 was a decade and a half ago. Many younger and/or newer fans might have no memory of Kotsay as a player, much less roaming the center field grass at the Coliseum. Let’s look back at some history!
To begin, Kotsay was a joy to watch. His defense was fantastic, combining pristine fundamentals with maximum effort to sprint and jump and dive for catches, and his strong arm racked up assists.