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1. Using a pink bat as part of baseball's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day at Yankee Stadium on Mother's Day 2006, he homered off Randy Johnson in the first inning, prompting then-teammate Nick Swisher to marvel, "If going yard off 'Big Unit' at Yankee Stadium with a pink bat doesn't make you a stud, I don't know what does."

2. He was the closer for Cal-State Fullerton's College World Series championship team in 1995, posting a 0.31 ERA and 11 saves in 21 appearances. But despite his insistence that he can still "bring it," he's been unsuccessful in lobbying big-league managers to let him take the bump in blowouts.
3. He's won several awards for being a charity workhorse but doesn't like accepting them, saying, "It just doesn't feel right to be honored for doing right by people less fortunate."

4. His wife, Jamie, with whom he has two young daughters and an infant son, was No. 9 on CO-ED Magazine Online's list of "Top 20 Sexiest Athlete Wives of 2007."

5. He's No. 2 on my list of all-time easiest athletes to work with. Tim Hudson is No. 1. Darn you, [A's general manager] Billy Beane!


Gimme 5: Things to know about Kotsay | ajc.com