Batiste came into the game late and helped lead to the Braves' game-tying run with an error in the ninth, according to The Associated Press. In the 10th though, Batiste came to bat and knocked in the game winner with a walk-off single.
"I was hoping I'd get a chance (for redemption) and I did," Batiste told The AP later. "I was thinking hard about it at the plate."
Batiste appeared in that post-season at the end of his third season in the majors. He ended up only getting time in two more, the season where he helped beat the Braves ending up being his best.
Batiste's career began in 1987, taken by the Phillies in the third round of the draft, out of St. Amant High School in Louisiana.
He started at short-season Utica, making single-A Spartanburg in 1988 and AA Reading in 1990. In 1991, he made AAA Scranton. That September, he made Philadelphia.
With the Phillies in 1991, Batiste got into 10 games, getting 6 hits in 27 at bats. He returned to Philadelphia for another 44 games in 1992, hitting just .206. He also picked up 13 errors. Four of those errors came in the same April game.
After the four-error game, Batiste told The Philadelphia Inquirer two of them may have come with pressure. They had lost the lead. "But that's no excuse," he told The Inquirer. "I'm supposed to make those plays."
Over his five seasons, 221 appearances, Batiste picked up a total of 47 errors.
In 1993, though, Batiste's playing time expanded. He got into 79 games and hit .282, with 10 errors. He also hit five home runs, one of them a grand slam. That grand slam, in August, was also the first grand slam Batiste ever hit, he told reporters later.
"Oh man, I still can't believe it," Batiste told reporters later. "I can't explain the feeling and it's still going on."
In 1994, Batiste came back for 64 games, his average dropping to .234. He didn't make the majors at all in 1995, then returned for 54 final games in the majors in 1996, with the Giants.
Batiste, though, didn't stop playing. He continued on in independent ball, his last credited time coming in 2003 with the independent Atlantic City Surf.
In October 2020, Batiste passed away at the age of 52.
Originally published Oct. 29, 2012; Updated November 2024
- Philadelphia Inquirer, April 18, 1992: Phillies Fumble The Lead
- Reading Eagle, news services, Aug. 13, 1993: Slam by Batiste lifts the Phillies
- Warsaw Times-Union, Associated Press, Oct. 7, 1993: Batiste Bounces Back To Spark Philadelphia
More 1990 Minor Leaguers:
- Kingsport Mets Bat Boys, 3 in 1990, another gets ring, 5/30/22
- Bill Bates played single season as pro with Braves, 21 games, 11/21/16
- Bill Bates played single season as pro with Braves, 21 games, 11/21/16
- Kevin Batiste made majors, saw career end with 'immaturity', 4/9/15
- Kim Batiste brought big bat to 1993 NLCS, saw 5 ML seasons, 10/29/12
- Howard Battle played decade in minors, then ML pennant race, 1/25/17
- Kim Batiste brought big bat to 1993 NLCS, saw 5 ML seasons, 10/29/12
- Howard Battle played decade in minors, then ML pennant race, 1/25/17
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