The baseball offseason has all but come to a close and just over two weeks remain until the Atlanta Braves’ first spring training game against the New York Mets on Feb. 26.
No Braves player is itching to get back onto the field quite like Brooks Conrad.
It was nearly four months ago to the day when Conrad tied an MLB postseason record by committing three errors in one game and ultimately swung the momentum of the NLDS in favor of the San Francisco Giants.
The errors (a hard grounder going between his legs, a booted double-play ball and a dropped pop fly) have surely replayed in the minds of Braves fans and Conrad alike, ever since that atrocious Game 3.
"I feel absolutely terrible right now," Conrad had told reporters after the game. "I wish I could just dig a hole and sleep in there."
But the truth is, up until that moment, Conrad had all but carried the team in the latter half of the season. The 31-year-old utilityman had become a fan favorite when he capped of a seven-run ninth inning with a walk-off grand slam against Cincinnati Reds closer Francisco Cordero.
Months later, Conrad hit another pinch-hit grand slam, this time in Miami against the NL East foe Florida Marlins. The shot put the Braves ahead for good in the game, which they ended up winning 10-5.
When All-Star Martin Prado went down with an injury late in the season, Conrad again came up large for the Braves in an August 13th game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The game had been a pitching duel, as Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda matched Braves starter Tim Hudson pitch-for-pitch until the seventh inning, when Conrad took him deep over the center field wall.
The Braves won the game 1-0.
It would be easy for Braves fans to turn their backs on Conrad after his performance in Game 3 of the NLDS, but they shouldn’t.
Game 3 was only the 11th time Conrad had started at second base in his entire major league career, a career that saw him go from a hero to a one-man blooper reel in less than five months.
Nowadays, Conrad, sporting a No. 7 jersey instead of his traditional No. 26 because of new teammate Dan Uggla’s request for the number, has reportedly moved on from incidents of that October afternoon and is ready to get back onto the field and prove himself to Braves teammates and fans alike.
His journey begins on Feb. 18th, when Braves’ position players report to spring training.
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