Eroica

Eroica-Heroic.

That's what Mark Kotsay is, heroic.

OK, it's a bit of a stretch, but I'm going to milk this use of names of famous compositons to link with this ongoing discussion of the A's.

In my opinion, one of the big momentum shifts in the game was in the sixth inning, the inning in which the A's coughed back the lead to the ChiSox, Mark Kotsay threw out a runner at home to end the inning. That throw from center field was just a laser, and it was beautiful. But, apparently it doesn't end with that defensive play:

A's manager Ken Macha credited Kotsay with firing up the squad for the final push when the A's fell behind a second time. After a great throw to the plate to nail Carl Everett to end the White Sox's four-run sixth, Oakland's center fielder let his teammates have it.

"He came in and let everyone know how he felt about that inning,'' Macha said.

"It got pretty heated,'' said Chavez, who had two hits with men in scoring position and drove in three runs. "The game was ugly at that point, (Kotsay) just got mad. We scored three runs (after that), take that for what it's worth.''

That was in the seventh, when the A's tied it 7-7. Then, in the eighth, Marco Scutaro sprinted to second with one out in the eighth when Jermaine Dye dropped his routine flyball. Kotsay walked and pinch hitter Erubiel Durazo rolled a single under Willie Harris' glove at short (it was the first time in Harris had played shortstop in the majors), sending Scutaro home. Jason Kendall banged a 2-2 pitch from Luis Vizcaino into left to score Kotsay.

-Susan Slusser, SF Chronicle 4/27/05

Thank you, Mark the team needed that, the fans needed that.

People have complained "Where is our team leader?" feeling frustrated that Chavez doesn't seem to wear that mantle well (or at all) and we needed somebody to light a fire under the A's collective butts. Well, we've got one now. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you...Mark Kotsay.