Sean Kazmar, who turned 32 in August, will likely never be an Atlanta Brave.
Born in Valdosta, the shortstop was originally the fifth-round pick of the Padres in 2004 from the School of Southern Nevada – which, frankly, sounds like a correspondence school. He did reach the majors for a 19-game cup of coffee with the Padres in 2008, but he has spent most of the time since as quite the baseball nomad.
In 2011, after his second straight year failing to stick with the Padres and having to put in an entire season in AAA, he was signed by the Mariners as a free agent. Same story, different verse, so in 2012, he tried his luck with the Mets. They not only failed to keep him, they even demoted him back to Class AA for most of the year – and an abdominal strain limited his playing time at both levels.
However, the Braves took a chance on him for the 2013 season, and Kazmar seemed to find a home. He impressed in the spring, but the start of the season found him on the disabled list for over a month, and he hit only .228 upon his return. Something about the Georgian’s scrappy play impressed them enough to re-sign him, but he was returned to the DL until July. But he hit a productive .297 upon his return and earned another one-year deal to return to the Braves in 2015. In the closest thing he’s come to a full season in years, he hit .280 in 111 games and returned for another go in Gwinnett this season. He was voted the G-Braves’ “Most Competitive Player” in 2014 and 2015.
For the last two seasons, the man now calling himself Sean Kazmar Jr. drew on his versatility and played all four infield positions and this year made only four errors in 93 games. He took a one-week break to be with his wife for the birth of Sean Kazmar III.
Now, in the playoffs, he has become the Big Stick, with three homers and seven RBIs so far in the postseason. His first four-hit game since 2010 was the spark to their reaching the finals.
The Braves, who have 40-man roster issues to be sure, might still see fit to add him to the roster for the final week or two of the season. But even if he isn’t an Atlanta Brave, he’ll likely be an all-time Gwinnett Brave with 361 regular-season games played for them.
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