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George Kottaras
George Kottaras (/kəˈteɪrəs/ kə-TAY-rəs; born May 10, 1983) is a Canadian-Greek former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays.
Both of Kottaras' parents were born in Greece, but settled in the Toronto, Ontario, suburb of Scarborough, where he was born. He attended Milliken Mills High School in nearby Markham.
Kottaras was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 20th round of the 2002 MLB draft. He signed with the Padres in May 2003 after spending one year at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma.
Kottaras began his professional career playing for the Idaho Falls Padres of the Pioneer League, and worked his way up through the Padres minor league system to the Triple-A Portland Beavers in 2006. He played in the 2006 All-Star Futures Game for Team World and was named number 48 in the 2006 Minor League News FAB50 List.
On September 5, 2006, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox to complete an August 31 deal for David Wells and was immediately added to the team's 40-man roster. He was assigned to the Red Sox Double A franchise, the Portland Sea Dogs, who had just begun their Eastern League playoff run. Kottaras arrived for Game 2 of Eastern League Division Playoffs and continued playing with the Sea Dogs until they were crowned 2006 Eastern League Champions.
Kottaras played the entire 2007 season for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. He reported for spring training in 2008 but was optioned back to Pawtucket on March 17, 2008. Kottaras played the regular and post season 2008 schedule for Pawtucket.
Then, after Pawtucket was eliminated from the International League playoffs, he was called up from Pawtucket to MLB on September 8, 2008, and on September 13, 2008, made his MLB debut in the sixth inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays and scored the only run for the Red Sox that game.
In 2009, Kottaras was knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield's personal catcher; while Jason Varitek caught the other pitchers in the rotation. After Wakefield went on the disabled list after the All-Star break, Kottaras followed suit with a lower back strain. He remained with Pawtucket until call ups on September 1. With Wakefield's first start in September, Red Sox manager Terry Francona had to decide whether to start Kottaras due to his familiarity with Wakefield or Víctor Martínez due to his bat and having made one start with Wakefield in which he caught the knuckleball very well for the first time. Francona eventually chose Martínez.
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George Kottaras
George Kottaras (/kəˈteɪrəs/ kə-TAY-rəs; born May 10, 1983) is a Canadian-Greek former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays.
Both of Kottaras' parents were born in Greece, but settled in the Toronto, Ontario, suburb of Scarborough, where he was born. He attended Milliken Mills High School in nearby Markham.
Kottaras was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 20th round of the 2002 MLB draft. He signed with the Padres in May 2003 after spending one year at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma.
Kottaras began his professional career playing for the Idaho Falls Padres of the Pioneer League, and worked his way up through the Padres minor league system to the Triple-A Portland Beavers in 2006. He played in the 2006 All-Star Futures Game for Team World and was named number 48 in the 2006 Minor League News FAB50 List.
On September 5, 2006, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox to complete an August 31 deal for David Wells and was immediately added to the team's 40-man roster. He was assigned to the Red Sox Double A franchise, the Portland Sea Dogs, who had just begun their Eastern League playoff run. Kottaras arrived for Game 2 of Eastern League Division Playoffs and continued playing with the Sea Dogs until they were crowned 2006 Eastern League Champions.
Kottaras played the entire 2007 season for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. He reported for spring training in 2008 but was optioned back to Pawtucket on March 17, 2008. Kottaras played the regular and post season 2008 schedule for Pawtucket.
Then, after Pawtucket was eliminated from the International League playoffs, he was called up from Pawtucket to MLB on September 8, 2008, and on September 13, 2008, made his MLB debut in the sixth inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays and scored the only run for the Red Sox that game.
In 2009, Kottaras was knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield's personal catcher; while Jason Varitek caught the other pitchers in the rotation. After Wakefield went on the disabled list after the All-Star break, Kottaras followed suit with a lower back strain. He remained with Pawtucket until call ups on September 1. With Wakefield's first start in September, Red Sox manager Terry Francona had to decide whether to start Kottaras due to his familiarity with Wakefield or Víctor Martínez due to his bat and having made one start with Wakefield in which he caught the knuckleball very well for the first time. Francona eventually chose Martínez.
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