The Atlanta Braves were scheduled to play their first Spring
Training game this past Saturday at their new Spring Training home, CoolToday
Park. Located in North Port, Fla., this new $125-million facility can host
about 7,200 fans and marks the Braves move from their older Spring Training
facilities in the Orlando area. The Braves, who have held Spring Training in
Florida every spring since 1946, are scheduled to play 17 “home” games this
spring at CoolToday Park.
Much has been made of Atlanta’s move to North Port, and I
thought it was cool when on Tuesday of last week the Braves named a street
outside the park “Hank Aaron Way” after 86-year-old Hall of Famer, Hank Aaron.
Aaron, who was born in Wilcox County and grew up in Mobile, was on hand for the
naming ceremony last week and said he was “extremely proud” of the honor. “Hank
Aaron Way” runs alongside the new stadium and parallel with the park’s
first-base line.
Atlanta is scheduled to wrap up Spring Training on March 24
against the Red Sox and will open their regular season schedule two days later
when they play the Diamondbacks in Arizona. A three-game series at San Diego
will follow before Atlanta heads back east for their home-opener. The first
game scheduled to be played in Atlanta is set for April 3, when the Braves will
host the Marlins.
A big addition to the Braves lineup this season will be 29-year-old
outfielder Marcel Ozuna. Nicknamed “The Big Bear,” Ozuna is a native of the
Dominican Republic and previously played for the Miami Marlins and the St.
Louis Cardinals before joining the Braves earlier this year. Ozuna signed a
one-year, $18-million contract with the Braves on Jan. 21, which is a lot more
money than I was making when I was 29.
Ozuna broke into the Major Leagues in 2013 with the Marlins
and since then has racked up a lot of professional accolades. He’s a two-time
All-Star and also has Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards in his trophy case.
Over the course of his career, he’s recorded 963 hits in 3,536 at bats, a
career batting average of .272.
Professionally, Ozuna has scored 467 runs and hit 148 home
runs. He’s driven in 538 runs and stolen 26 bases. His career on-base
percentage is .329. His career OPS is .784.
OPS stands for “on-base plus slugging,” which is the sum of
a players on-base percentage and slugging percentage. It’s basically a
measurement of a player’s ability to hit for power and get on base. An OPS of
over .900 is considered really, really good, so Ozuna is just a little shy of
that mark.
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Youth baseball and softball is also just around the corner,
and that’s always a fun time of year. At The Courant, we are happy to report
all the local youth baseball and softball news there is to print, so if you’re
coaching one of our local teams this year, please send in your scores, stats
and comments. Win or lose, I know these young players want to see their names
in the paper, so send me the information, and I’m happy to get them fixed up.
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