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The Kooz Connection

Talked to Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff on Monday — he was nice enough to call me twice for a story I was working on about his career. Kooz has recently been linked to some trade rumors — the Twins reportedly have interest in him — so I’ll keep my eye on him this offseason.

I didn’t know a ton about Kooz before doing this story — he actually is only the third player in Major League history to hit a grand slam in his first MLB at-bat. St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright somehow did it in 2006, and the last guy before that was like 1898. Pretty nuts. He still gets excited when he talks about it.

Not only that, he hit it on the very first pitch he saw.

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Kevin Kouzmanoff of the San Diego Padres stands on deck during a game against the D-backs at Chase Field on May 25, 2009 in Phoenix, Ariz. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Check out the story, currently featured on MiLB.com and the Padres’ website today.

-D

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