Kotsay Named Padres Hitting Coach
FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton legend Mark Kotsay was named the new hitting coach for the San Diego Padres, it was announced Monday.
Kotsay, who turned 39 years of age Tuesday, was named the Padres new hitting coach after spending the 2014 season as a special assistant to the general manager and baseball operations in the team's front office. It will be Kotsay's first coaching job in the Majors after a 13-year career in MLB. Kotsay joins Mike Harkey (pitching coach, Arizona Diamondbacks) and Tim Wallach (bench coach, Los Angeles Dodgers) as former Titans currently holding coaching jobs in MLB.
Read more about Kotsay's new job here.
During his time at Cal State Fullerton, Kotsay (1994-96) batted .404 with 259 hits, 60 doubles, 11 triples and 45 home runs and 216 RBI to go along with 40 stolen bases. He ranks first in Titans history in batting average, slugging percentage (.743) and is second in home runs, RBI, total bases (476), and on-base percentage (.481). He also ranks in the Titans top-10 in hits (7th), runs scored (6th, 201), doubles (5th), and triples (4th).
Kotsay shined in the postseason for Cal State Fullerton and particularly in Omaha as he was a two-time member of the College World Series All-Tournament Team, one of two Titans (Justin Turner) to earn multiple nods to the All-Tournament team. Kotsay was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 1995 CWS after leading the Titans to the 1995 NCAA championship, the program's third national title. In the title game, Kotsay blasted two home runs and had five RBI and then came in to pitch in relief of Ted Silva to get the final five outs and secure the title for the Titans.
He was one of three Titans named to the College World Series Legends Team in 2010 along with Jason Windsor and Augie Garrido as part of the commemoration of the CWS' 60th and final year at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. He led the 1995 CWS with a .563 batting average and owns the record for the all-time CWS career batting average (.517) and slugging percentage (1.103). He is also the only player to ever hit two grand slams at the CWS.
Kotsay is also the last Fullerton player to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top amateur baseball player. He was the third Titan to ever win the award after batting .422 with 21 home runs and 90 RBI. He also went 2-1 with 11 saves and a 0.31 ERA in 21 appearances on the mound that year. The two-time First Team All-American (1995-96) struck out 27 in 29 innings pitched in 1995.
Kotsay was named the College Player of the Decade (1990s) by Baseball America and was also inducted into the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007 as part of the second induction class. The Titans went 149-41 in his three seasons at Fullerton.
In 1996, Kotsay was the ninth overall selection of the then-Florida (Miami) Marlins in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He would win a World Series Championship ring with the team in 1997 and went on to play 17 seasons and 1,914 games with seven different teams in the Majors including a pair of stints with the Padres (2001-03, 2012-13), batting .276 with 1,784 hits, 353 doubles, 48 triples, 127 home runs and 720 RBI.
He was 14th in American League MVP voting in 2004 as a member of the Oakland Athletics when he hit .314 with 37 doubles, 15 homers, 63 RBI and a .459 slugging percentage in 148 games with the A's. He led the team to 91 wins as Oakland finished just one game back of the Anaheim Angels in the A.L. West, just missing out on the playoffs.
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Justin Turner Pays Dividends for Dodgers
Former Titans standout Justin Turner is coming off the best season of his MLB career. In 109 games, Turner posted a career-best .340 batting average along with a career-high seven home runs after hitting eight round-trippers in his first five seasons combined. Turner also posted a .897 on-base-plus-slugging average after he hit 21 doubles and one triple. He collected 98 hits on the season and also scored 46 runs, the second best mark of his career. In addition, Turner batted .419 with runners in scoring position.
The Los Angeles Times recapped Turner's stellar season, which can be read here.
In his four years at Fullerton, Turner batted .328 with 331 hits and 51 stolen bases in 253 games played. He hit eight home runs and 61 doubles to go along with seven triples and 157 RBI. Turner was an All-American in 2003 and 2006 and was the co-Big West Conference Player of the Year in 2006.
Colon Leads Royals Up and Coming Organizational Stars
Former Titans infielder Christian Colon became the 54th former Cal State Fullerton baseball player to play in MLB during the 2014 season. Colon also made the 25-man playoff roster for the Kansas City Royals. He played 21 games for the Royals during the season and batted .333 with 15 hits including five doubles, one triple and six RBI. He also scored eight runs and stole two bases.
Recently, Kelsie Heneghan of MiLB.com included Colon in her list of the Royals organization's top homegrown all-stars. Read more here.
In his three seasons with the Titans, Colon posted a career .349 batting average with 267 hits, 214 runs scored, 46 doubles, 6 triples, 29 home runs and 147 RBI. Colon ranks fourth in runs on the Titans all-time career record book. He also ranks sixth in hits, hit-by-pitches (44) and eighth in total bases (412).