Shortly after Casey Kotchman found out he had been traded to the Braves on Tuesday night, he took his cell phone into the tunnel in Fenway Park and called his father.

Looking toward some Angels writers standing nearby, he smiled, gave them the thumbs up and said "Atlanta."

Now if that reaction seemed odd to writers who cover the team with the best record in baseball, it seemed a little odd to his new manager, too, especially considering Kotchman's father, Tom, has been a scout and minor-league manager for the Angels for 26 years.

Bobby Cox said when he met with Kotchman for 10 minutes or so on Wednesday to welcome him, he started the conversation by telling Kotchman he would understand if he were a little disappointed going from a first-place team to a fourth.

"I said 'Look, I know how tough it is coming from a team almost 12 games ahead, to come to a team riddled with injuries and struggling a bit," Cox said. "He told me he was excited to be here, couldn't be happier."

While standing in front of the locker that was vacated by Mark Teixeira the day before, Kotchman said his excitement had a lot to do with Cox, as well as geography. He grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla., watching the Braves on TV.

"I was excited to come back to the east coast and be a part of this storied franchise," said Kotchman, 25. "I feel privileged to have an opportunity to be here. I'll be pulling for my teammates over there, but I'm really excited to be a Brave now."

When asked if he ever got used to life on the west coast, he said "I don't know that you can. If your parents want to watch you [on television], they've got to start the game at 10 o'clock at night."

He tried to catch a 7 p.m. flight out of Boston on Tuesday night but got turned away at the airport. So he arrived about 1 p.m. Wednesday and came into the clubhouse to a lineup with him name in the No. 3 spot and in a locker next to Chipper Jones, who normally hits there.

Kotchman already knew a few of the Braves through his trainer in Florida — Jair Jurrjens and Tim Hudson — as well as a certain former Brave who was also traded at the non-waiver deadline to play first base for the Braves.

"I got a call from Fred McGriff," Kotchman said. "That was pretty cool to hear from Freddy. He was excited for me to be coming here because he experienced the same thing, being able to play here."

Kotchman said he's excited to play for Cox, about whom he has heard good things from other players and saw for himself in interleague play against the Braves in June.

"I remember seeing him on the top step just rooting for guys, hitters just taking aggressive swings and just rooting for them," Kotchman said. "It was cool growing up, watching him manage. To see it, it's like wow. It's pretty cool."

Kotchman hit the game-winning homer in the only game the Angels won in that series. He showed up in Atlanta on Wednesday, having homered in three of his past four games to add to his career-high total of 12 homers.

The Braves expect him to be more a line drive hitter. He was hitting .287 through 100 games for the Angels, striking out only once every 17.3 plate appearances, which led the American League. He has a .997 career fielding percentage.

He was asked if he felt pressure trying to replace Teixeira.

"I haven't analyzed anything, and I won't," said Kotchman, who's wearing No. 22, twice the number his father wears managing for the Angels' rookie league team in Orem, Utah. "I'll just try to get the most out of the present time, and that's just how I've been brought up. Pour everything into the present and have no regrets in the future."