Catcher doesn't want to be known as the latest Ernie Broglio
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Posted 12:38PM on Saturday, April 26, 2003
ATLANTA - Ernie Broglio knows a thing or two about the burden that's hovering over Johnny Estrada. <br>
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For nearly four decades, Broglio has been the symbol of a baseball deal gone horribly wrong: a sore-armed pitcher who was swapped for Hall of Famer Lou Brock. <br>
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Estrada could wind up in a similar situation, being the guy on the wrong end of a supposedly one-sided deal. He was a minor-league catcher in the Philadelphia organization when the Phillies shipped him to the Atlanta Braves for 18-game winner Kevin Millwood. <br>
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He says, with grin, ``I'm sure that will be stuck on my resume the rest of my career. Hopefully I will perform well enough so the fans of Atlanta will appreciate what I can do.'' <br>
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Everyone concedes Millwood-for-Estrada was an uneven trade brought on by the economics of baseball in the 21st century. Millwood was eligible for arbitration; the Braves didn't want to risk paying him the $9.9 million for the 2003 season the Phillies eventually gave the right-hander. <br>
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Estrada, who spent most of last season at Triple-A Scranton, didn't make the Braves coming out of spring training. The team already had Javy Lopez and Henry Blanco, so their third catcher started the season at Richmond. <br>
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Estrada was hitting close to .400 at AAA when the Braves called him up last weekend, needing a catcher after Lopez strained a hamstring. This could be a short stay, though. <br>
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In his first three starts, Estrada was 3-of-11 with two RBIs. <br>
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He isn't likely to get much of an opportunity with the Braves until 2004.