Mark Kotsay

The Double that completed the cycle was also Kotsay's 1,500th career hit.

Mark Steven Kotsay (born December 2, 1975) is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder.

He is the manager for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB).

As a player, Kotsay appeared in 1,914 MLB games for the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Athletics, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers.

He coached for the Padres and Athletics before becoming manager of Oakland for the 2022 season.

Born in Whittier, but raised in Santa Fe Springs, California, Kotsay attended Santa Fe High School.

He batted .408 with a 4–0 win–loss record and 3.18 earned run average in his senior season.

He also played for the school's American football and basketball teams.

Kotsay enrolled at California State University, Fullerton to play college baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans.

Kotsay spent the summer of 1994 playing for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League where he was named a league all-star.

In 1995, Kotsay won the Golden Spikes Award and was the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series (CWS), as Fullerton won its third Series championship.

In addition to being an outfielder, Kotsay was a closer in college; he pitched the final five outs to clinch his team's CWS title.

Kotsay was a consensus choice as an All-American in 1995 and 1996.

The Florida Marlins selected Kotsay in the first round, with the ninth overall pick, of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft.

Kotsay appeared in 14 games for the Marlins in before taking over as the team's center fielder in.

He was moved to right field after Gary Sheffield was traded, a position better suited for the strong throwing arm which Kotsay regularly showed off.

As a rookie, he led all National League outfielders with 20 assists, and led them again in his second year with the same number.

In, he led all right fielders with 13 assists.

At the plate, Kotsay was an average hitter during these years, hitting around .280 with occasional power and the occasional stolen base.

Kotsay was traded in, barely a week before Opening Day, to the San Diego Padres as part of a deal for Matt Clement and Eric Owens.

Moved back to center field, Kotsay improved his hitting, but he recorded only four outfield assists.

This can be largely attributed to the fact that few chose to run on Kotsay.

Over the next two seasons, however, Kotsay was defensively back on form, leading all National League center fielders in that category.

Kotsay hit .291 with a .807 OPS in 2001 and .292 with a .810 OPS in.

After his batting average slipped to .266 with a .726 OPS in, Kotsay was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Terrence Long and Ramón Hernández.

With Oakland in, Kotsay batted a career-best .314 hitting second in the A's lineup.

Displaying his customary strong arm afield, he led American League center fielders with 11 assists.

On July 9,, the Athletics announced that Kotsay and the team had come to terms on a three-year, $29 million contract extension.

The extension kept Kotsay under contract with the Athletics through the season and included a no-trade clause through the season.

News of the contract extension ended speculation that Kotsay would be traded to a team in need of a starting center fielder, such as the New York Yankees.

He would hit another single in the ninth inning to have his third career five-hit game and first since 2005.

However, despite the great effort, the Braves lost to the Cubs 11–7.

On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Kotsay was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation.

He was one of a handful of players to hit a pink bat home run.

The 2006 season marked Kotsay's first-ever appearance in a postseason game, as the Athletics clinched the 2006 AL West Division title.

On October 4, he hit his first postseason home run against Minnesota Twins pitcher Dennys Reyes for a two-run inside-the-park home run which scored Jason Kendall to put the A's ahead 4–2, leading his team to win Game 2 of the ALDS.

Kotsay underwent back surgery during spring training, and missed the first two months of the 2007 campaign.

On January 14, 2008, after passing a physical, Kotsay was officially traded to the Atlanta Braves along with $5.3 million of his $7.3 million salary from the Athletics for Joey Devine and prospect Jamie Richmond.

On August 14, 2008, Kotsay became the first Atlanta Brave to hit for the cycle since Albert Hall did it in.

He doubled to right in the seventh inning against Bob Howry of the Chicago Cubs.