This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman's Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here . And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- Fortunately for the Braves, Drake Baldwin didn’t have a Happy Gilmore-like affinity for hockey. But the leading candidate for the National League Rookie of the Year Award did once think he’d be more likely to be wearing skates rather than a catcher’s mask at the professional level.

“I thought it was more likely I’d be a hockey player in eighth grade or freshman year of high school,” Baldwin said. “It wasn’t like some elaborate thought process or educated decision. It just felt like it was going that way.”

As MLB celebrates Players' Weekend over these next few days, fans will get an opportunity to get a bette

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