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It's interesting that you suggest the shot off the head as being a turning point in his career.
The first thing I noticed about Kotchman, as a Mariner, is how tentative and fragile that he looks giving an interview. His body language, his tone of voice, his eye movement, everything looks twitchy and anxious to me, as though there is an uber problem with his self-belief.
On the field, also, as he battles in the batter's box, you'll often see him grimacing as if under fate-of-the-world pressure. He pushes through it, but...
Wouldn't consider it farfetched at all that a super-painful accident sort of robbed him of his gusto and attack. The same thing happened to me in a motorcycle wreck.