ANAHEIM, Calif. - If you can't join them, help beat them.
Growing up in Pinellas County and starring at Seminole High, Casey Kotchman could have been a Devil Ray. He was among the players the Rays considered with the third pick in the 2001 draft, but they instead chose Dewon Brazelton and Kotchman went 13th to the Angels.
Sunday, Kotchman was called up to make his major-league debut - against the Rays. He started at first base and went 0-for-3 but knocked in a run with a third-inning sacrifice fly.
"It's always in your head that you might have a chance to play for the hometown team," Kotchman said, "but you can't control what happens."
"It's ironic they're playing Tampa," said his father, Tom, a longtime Angels minor-league manager who flew in from Tampa early Sunday morning for the debut.
Kotchman, 21, got called up because Darin Erstad went down with a hamstring injury Saturday night. Kotchman knows all about that, having missed parts of each of his three pro seasons with odd, almost freak, injuries.
Kotchman was hitting .368 with three homers, 11 doubles and 18 RBIs at Double-A Arkansas when he got word late Saturday night and immediately called his dad.
"I'd just gotten home from scouting the state junior college tournament and the phone rang about 1:40 (a.m.)," Tom Kotchman said. "Usually when you get a call at 1:40 in the morning, it's not a good one. I heard it was Casey, and I was like, "What, did you get hit by a pig in Arkansas or something?"'
Instead, it was about the best news the Kotchmans could have hoped for.
"He was due for some good luck," Tom Kotchman said.
