Projo Sox Blog

By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON _ Every baseball player has a special memory about their major league debut.

Red Sox rookie catcher George Kottaras, and his parents, are no different.

With yesterday's matinee portion of the day/night doubleheader against the Blue Jays out of reach, Red Sox manager Terry Francona replaced Jason Varitek and inserted Kottaras in the top of the seventh inning. After a quick 1-2-3 inning from reliever Devern Hansack, Kottaras led off the bottom of the inning.

At the exact moment he was walking from the on-deck circle to the plate, his parents were buying a couch at Sears in Toronto when they saw their son making his debut on television.

"So they stayed there for the next hour and a half to watch the rest of the game," he said with a smile. "I don't know if they bought it because they were sitting in the recliners. Hopefully they bought it."

His mother, Marie, immediately called him after the game to congratulate him.

"I told her 'I owe a lot to you guys' because they did a lot for me growing up," said Kottaras.

He spent all season with the PawSox and hit .243 with 22 homers and 65 RBI in 107 games. He went 0-for-1 with a run scored yesterday.

"I had some jitters when I was walking from the on-deck circle to the plate, but once I was up there I was fine," he said.

And, it was an interesting first at-bat. He struck out but reached first via wild pitch on the third-strike swinging. He reached second on an error, third on a fielder's choice and then scored on a sacrifice fly.

During his second at-bat in the bottom of the ninth inning he narrowly missed his first big-league home run when the ball hooked foul right before Pesky's Pole.

"I thought it had a chance," he said. "It was a close one."

Francona gave him very little time to prepare, or even think about, his debut. The manager told him after the sixth inning to get his stuff on and get in there.

"I had the deer-in-the-headlights look for a second and then I ran to get my stuff," Kottaras said. "I didn't have a chance to get nervous. I was thrown right into the fire and I had a blast. It was great. It was unbelievable. It was just exciting to get out there and I felt great."

At the time of his callup, Francona said he didn't know how he would use Kottaras, especially since he is the fourth catcher on the club, joining Jason Varitek, Kevin Cash and David Ross. So, Kottaras has just gone about his everyday business and has worked with bullpen coach Gary Tuck.

Kottaras has also had time to work with The Captain and said it's been very helpful.

"He's been great," said Kottaras of Varitek. "He's a great person and a great leader. He's very important to his baseball club and I try not to get into his way too much and not bother him. But when I have a chance I ask him questions and he's been great with that."

Originally selected by the Padres in the 20th round in 2003, Kottaras was acquired by the Red Sox on Sept. 5, 2006 to complete the trade for pitcher David Wells. Kottaras spent all of 2007 in Pawtucket where he collected nine homers and 39 RBI in 87 games. He struggled defensively before making major improvements to his game this summer.

"It's been a big one," he said of this developmental season. "It was my second year in Triple-A and I had a lot more feel for the game and feel for how to help out with the pitchers."

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