"Gattis grew up in Forney, Texas and played baseball from the time he was six years old. He played for the Dallas Tigers, one of the premier amateur teams in the Dallas area.
Gattis committed to attend Texas A&M University on a baseball scholarship.Terrified by the prospect of failing at college baseball, Gattis began to self-medicate his anxiety with alcohol and marijuana. Resulting in time in and out of drug rehabilitation facilities.
Gattis moved Boulder, Colorado. He sold his truck and worked in a pizza parlor and for a resort as a ski-lift operator.
He then moved to Dallas with his brother, where they worked as janitors for Datamatics Global Services. He met a spiritual advisor there, who he followed to Taos, New Mexico, where he lived in a hostel and worked at a ski resort. Gattis also moved to Wyomingg, where he worked at Yellowstone National Park. He then traveled through California,, meeting with spiritual guides to find out what he should do.
Gattis decided to return to baseball in 2010. His step-brother, Drew Kendrick, was a college baseball player at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB). Brian Reinke, the coach of the UTPB Falcons, remembered Gattis from his high school career, and offered him a spot on the team.
Gattis started the 2012 season with the Class A Lynchburg Hillcats. After starting the season with a .385 batting average, nine home runs, and 29 runs batted in (RBIs) in 21 games, he was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Class AA Southern League at the end of April.He played in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he batted .303 with 16 home runs and a .595 slugging percentage in 53 games, leading the league in home runs and slugging percentage.He earned the nickname "El Oso Blanco", Spanish for "the White Bear".
The Braves invited Gattis to spring training in 2013.With a 19-for-53 (.358) performance in the Grapefruit League and McCann starting the season on the disabled list, the Braves added Gattis to their Opening Day roster to share catching duties with Gerald Laird. On April 3, 2013, Gattis made his major league debut. He recorded his first hit as a major leaguer, a home run off of Roy Halladay, in his second at bat."
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Evan Gattis of the Atl Braves' odd road to MLB
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