This is part two of the Georgia State connection to the Braves Hall of Fame trio being inducted Sunday.

Mark Mortimer was a Georgia State catcher from 1995-97 earning All-America freshman honors and being signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1997. He played five seasons in the Braves minor-league system, moving up to the Richmond Braves of AAA before a severe wrist injury ended his playing career.

But, Mortimer still found a way to spend two full seasons with the Atlanta Braves. His role as No. 53 came as the bullpen catcher and do-it-all helper during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Mortimer first was “called up” to work with major league pitching in 1999 as a minor leaguer when he worked as a catcher during the January and early-February pitching sessions with pitching coach Leo Mazzone at Turner Field. After doing that for three years before heading off to his minor league teams, he was invited to the new role on the Braves major league staff to work all 162 games and playoffs.

On Greg Maddux

“His mental focus and intelligence made him special,” Mortimer said. “It was amazing what he could make a baseball do and how he knew what hitters were thinking and expecting, but did the opposite. He relied on finesse, location or his smartness and wasn't just an overpowering kind of thrower.”

On his relationship with catchers: “Maddux wanted the catcher to really know what he was doing and be able to adjust to what he might be doing. In a game, he would often throw his own pitches in a game no matter what the catcher called. So, if a catcher called a fast ball, he wanted the catcher to still be ready to catch a change up or anything else. And, he wanted good defensive catchers. He liked to play catch sometimes and would just change his grips out of curiosity to see what he could make the ball do.”

On his intensity: “We were in Montreal and I was warming him up in the bullpen pre-game. It was an important game for a record for him, or the team, and he was just so locked in mentally. I realized how prepared he was getting himself and how absolute dead-serious it was to him. From his last pitches in the pen, I could tell he was going to win, and he did.”

On the person: “He was such a competitor no matter what he did and he blended with all the other pitchers and type of players the team had. Whether it was baseball, or golf, or cards, they were challenging one another. And, he was good at finding some times to pick on the other guys with the 'Kangaroo Court' mock trials and fines. But, it was all clean clowning-around and no mean high-jinks kind of stuff.”

 On Tom Glavine

“He was a quiet and reserved kind of person and seemed laid back,” Mortimer said. “Glavine was the first one I caught, I think, in 1999 when I started the Camp Leo catching sessions so he was always a little special to me.”

On his throwing sessions: “He might go down to the bullpen and just throw 30 pitches. It seemed like he might not even throw more than 60 miles an hour and would use all four of his pitches. He was focused on hitting the spot he wanted to put the ball and not make a mistake in location. He was not about speed and he wasn't raring back and throwing. He just didn't want to miss the spot he was throwing to.”

On his role: “He was a leader and I was always impressed with how he worked with the younger pitchers on the team and took them under his wings when he didn't have to. He fit into that veteran's mold of a competitor at anything and challenged the other guys, too. They all made each other better. Everyone knew he was a big hockey fan and former player, so his locker usually had some memorabilia in it.”

So, where will Mortimer be on Sunday during the Hall of Fame ceremony?

“I leave Saturday morning from the airport for my two-week mission trip to Nicaragua,” Mortimer said. “This is my fourth straight year for this trip to play baseball and talk the gospel with kids.”

“I will probably call them and congratulate them later because I know they've been so inundated now getting ready. I am so happy for them and honored to have gotten to know them. They are all deserving, as are some future Braves who should go in.”