Braves' Craig Kimbrel having another great season -- and more brushes with greatness

ATLANTA, Georgia -- There he is, on the shelf under the hotel TV, celebrating on the cover of an Atlanta visitors' magazine and inside, talking about Atlanta traditions like tubing on the Chattahoochee River.
There he is, on the pages of "Sports Illustrated," answering questions about what gift he'd give the Royal Baby and what TV show he's best suited for. (Tea and crumpets, and "Survivor," for the record.)
Craig Kimbrel, the third-year relief pitcher from Huntsville, is clearly becoming the face of the Atlanta Braves.
There Kimbrel was in the Atlanta Braves' dugout two hours before a recent game in the midst of the Braves' 7-0 homestand against St. Louis and Colorado. Alongside Kimbrel, who has a league-leading 31 saves, 1.34 ERA and 62 strikeouts of 157 batters faced going into the weekend, was Huntsville Times/al.com columnist Mark McCarter, for this conversation:
McCarter: You've lost Tim Hudson for the season. What does Hudson mean to you personally and the team?
Kimbrel: Personally he's a guy, being from Alabama, you grow up watching - even if though he's a big Auburn fan. You enjoy the way he competed, being a guy that's not tall in stature... You look at guys who are in the big leagues he was 5-10, 170 pounds. The stereotype they look for is 6-4, 6-5 kind of guy. He kinda defeated that.
He's the ace of our team. To have him go down it's tough but I feel like we have some guys that can step up and fill his shoes. By no means is anybody going to be the next Huddy, but there are some guys in our rotation who can go out and do the job.
I saw him that first night (after the injury) and the first question he was asking was, "Is this something I can come back from?" When they said it was, that gave him a good, positive outlook.
McCarter: With injuries and guys who aren't producing the way some expected, how are you guys winning so much?
Kimbrel: I don't know. It seems like somebody gets hurt and somebody steps up. The thing about baseball, somebody gets hurt and it opens the door and gives somebody else the chance to show what they can do. It's what happened to me.
McCarter: Are you where you were this time last year with your pitching?
Kimbrel: Oh, yeah. I'm always comfortable. It's different every year. Last year I felt like the hitters were taking more pitches and getting deeper in the counts. They got it in the back of their heads I might walk them. Now this year, it's "OK, he's going to throw me a pitch to hit, so we're going to swing more." Over the years you face a hitter a lot and they've got a scouting report on you as much as you've got a scouting report on them. They know what I'm going to do.
McCarter: How was the All-Star experience, especially with the tribute to (Yankees' closer) Mariano Rivera?
Kimbrel: It was pretty awesome. I didn't go out there and perform the way I'd have wanted to. But that was thrown out the door when Mo ran out there on the field and was out there by himself. I forget about what I did and was more caught up in the "Wow, this is really amazing." To watch somebody who is the best at his position of all time to run out and get standing ovations from players and his rivals in New York, it was pretty special.
McCarter: Do you know him?
Kimbrel: I've met him briefly a few times before. But no real converstions. I talked to him at hotel afterward. We came back and we were standing in the lobby and my brother wanted to take a picture with him. I asked him how it felt. He got pretty choked up. He's a guy of class. He just wants to go out there and do his job.
McCarter: Was that your "pinch-me moment" this year?
Kimbrel: The pinch-me moment I've had this year, we were out in LA and they had this old-timers' day. They had the Yankees legends and the Dodgers legends in a game. All the greats were there. It was really cool.
Sandy Koufax was there. They told us he was going to be there and I went and got a Sandy Koufax jersey. You don't get the opportunity to meet those guys, let alone get an autograph.
I went out there and he was talking to everybody. When I got my turn to introduce myself to him, he said, "It's good to see somebody who still throws a four-seam fastball." I was like, "Sandy Koufax knows how I pitch and knows I throw a four-seam fastball."
I thought that was a really cool comment, a great of the game, a legend of the game, actually knew who I was and how I pitched. It was a pretty amazing moment.

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