ATLANTA -- Imagine the thrill of recording a hit in your first Major League plate appearance. Now, imagine owning the unique distinction of being among the very few to ever record a hit in what proved to be your only career plate appearance.
For this exercise, we’ll just look at the rare group of players who have recorded a hit in their only at-bat for the Braves. Here are the nine members of this group -- including the six who tallied a hit in their lone plate appearance for the club.
Kolby Allard
Allard, a left-handed pitcher, is the most recent Braves player to accomplish this feat. He singled in his first career plate appearance on July 31, 2018, then recorded a sacrifice bunt in each of his final two plate appearances of the night. Allard went hitless in the four plate appearances he made for the Rangers from 2019-21. With the universal designated hitter in place, Allard will likely never come to the plate again.
Adam Bernero
Bernero experienced this rarity in 2005, when the journeyman reliever replaced an injured Mike Hampton in the third inning of a May 14, 2005, game at Dodger Stadium. He allowed one run over three innings to get the win and walked away feeling great about the single he had tallied off Odalis Perez in the fifth. He had a sacrifice bunt in his only other plate appearance for Atlanta.
Jeff Parrett
Parrett can say he reached safely every time he came to the plate for the Braves. The former reliever had an infield single in his first plate appearance for Atlanta on Sept. 8, 1990. An 11th-inning walk against the Phillies on June 5, 1991, accounted for the only other time he came to the plate for the Braves.
Now, here is an even greater oddity. These are the six players who tallied a hit in their only plate appearance for the Braves.
Doc Bass
Not a lot is known about this Macon, Ga., native whose Major League experience consisted of just two games with the Boston Braves in 1918. He was thrown immediately into the fire when he debuted as a pinch-hitter on July 29. He came to the plate with none on, two outs and the Braves trailing the Cubs by a run. Bass singled, then scored on Jim Kelly’s walk-off triple moments later. His only other appearance came three days later, when he entered as a pinch-runner and stole a base during a 21-inning loss to the Pirates.
Al Wright
Wright’s career consisted of four games for the Boston Braves in 1933. He debuted with a two-out single in the ninth inning of a 7-1 loss to the Phillies on April 25, 1933. This was the first and only plate appearance of his brief career. He entered as a defensive replacement in his next two games and served as a pinch-runner in what proved to be his last career game on May 5.
Steve Kuczek
Kuczek might be the most interesting member of this rare group. Per his bio page on Baseball-Reference, he served as a weapons specialist in the 3rd Army Infantry Division under General George S. Patton. He went to Colgate on the GI Bill after returning from World War II and ended up playing just one game in his big league career. He hit a pinch-hit double off future Cy Young Award winner and NL MVP Don Newcombe in the fifth inning of a game against the Dodgers on Sept. 29, 1949. Kuczek reportedly refused an assignment to the Minors and never played in the Majors again.
Sergio Valdez
Valdez tallied four hits over the 33 at-bats he tallied for three different clubs during a six-season big league career. But the former reliever came to the plate just once while totaling 25 pitching appearances for Atlanta from 1989-90. Valdez singled off Scott Sanderson in the sixth inning of a win over the Cubs on Aug. 26, 1989. He also threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings to get the first of his 12 career wins.
Trey Moore
Moore surrendered seven hits and four runs while totaling just two innings over the two appearances he made for the Braves in 2001. But he can always say he doubled in his only plate appearance for Atlanta. His two-bagger was tallied against Albie Lopez during a loss to Tampa Bay on July 15, 2001. He never appeared in another MLB game.
Gus Schlosser
Schlosser’s career consisted of 15 games for Atlanta in 2014. His only career plate appearance occurred during a 14-inning loss to the Mets on April 20. He singled in the 14th inning, but Evan Gattis followed by grounding into a double play. Schlosser surrendered Curtis Granderson’s game-winning sac fly in the bottom of the inning. But he’ll always have the rare distinction of having recorded a hit in his only career plate appearance.