You have to feel sorry for Brooks Conrad

Brooks Conrad was never supposed to be there. He toiled in the minors for 7 seasons in the Astros organization, including 3 full seasons at Triple-A. He was signed to a minor league contract by the Oakland A's and just toiled in the minors again except for 6 games in the majors in which he hit .158. He was then signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Braves in '09 at age 29. Then, he finally got his big break. Due to injuries, Conrad was brought up to the majors on July 3rd. He hit .344 with 2 homers and 8 RBI's in 14 games. Do you think the Braves would keep someone hitting .344 in the majors? Well, in the case of Conrad, no. He was sent back down to Triple-A after a July 20th against San Francisco. At least he was brought back to the majors in September. But, he hit .000 (yeah, .000) the rest of the season to finish with a .204 BA. Just like the rest of his career- it wasn't meant to be. Conrad appeared to be starting a productive major league career, albeit late, but then he got sent down, and then he slumped.

And then, despite all that, Conrad made the Braves in 2010. He did pretty well, hitting .250 with 11 doubles, 8 homers, 33 RBI, 5 SB, and a .324 OBP in 104 games, but just 177 at-bats.The highlight of his season was a walk-off grand slam to complete an 7-run rally in the bottom of the 9th against the Cincinnati Reds. Even I, a Yankee fan who doesn't care at all about the Braves, could recognize his name after that. Not only was Conrad clutch during that moment in the limelight, but he was also a clutch player over the course of the whole regular season. He hit .378 with runners in scoring position and .275 with runners on base. He hit 5 of his homers with runners on base including 2 grand slams (one of which was the walk-off homer). Then, everything changed.

In the NLDS against the San Francisco Giants, Conrad only had 1 hit in 11 at-bats, but that wasn't even close to the worst part. In Game 3, Conrad made 2 errors: a dropped popup for an unearned run, and a booted grounder. But then, with the game tied at 2, Conrad let the ball go right through his legs for the game-winning run for the Giants. Conrad became the goat of the series. The Giants won Game 4 and that was the end of the Braves' season and Bobby Cox's managerial career. What a way to end it! Not. Conrad has scarred his career and will be remembered for a long time as the player that prematurely ended Cox's career. I'm sorry Brooks, but that's just the way it is. Even 30 homers next season wouldn't change that.