Author | Daniel Wright |
Brian McCann. That is a name that will forever be etched into the Atlanta sports history books. That is a name that will one day appear on a plaque in Cooperstown. That is a name that, well, let’s go back to the beginning first.
Born in Athens, Georgia, the son of a UGA baseball coach and a nurse, Brian McCann played baseball throughout his entire schooling career. That schooling career would have continued until about 2006 had it not been for the Atlanta Braves drafting McCann straight out of high school in 2002. Despite being drafted in ‘02, B-Mac did not make his MLB debut until the middle of 2005 after previously playing for Atlanta’s Double-A affiliate, the Rome Braves
McCann recorded his first-ever big league home run in his second-ever regular-season game and hit his first postseason home run in the second inning of Game 2 of the NLDS in ‘05. He was the first Braves player in team history to accomplish this feat. The catcher kept up his good form until the Braves traded him to the Yankees in 2013. During most of his time with the Yankees, McCann seemed to be a shadow of the previous catcher that had played in Atlanta, with his batting average and OBS (on-base percentage) going down from his time with the Braves. Even when he was at his best, he wore a Yankees jersey. That changed when McCann was traded to the Houston Astros before the 2017 season. During the 2017 season, B-Mac was the primary catcher for the Astros, playing 97 games and starting 96 of them. Brian reached the pinnacle of MLB team success when he won the 2017 World Series with the Astros, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the Fall Classic (Random Fact #1: Also, on that team were former Braves players Charlie Morton and Evan Gattis). McCann was on the field when the final out was recorded, catching for fellow ‘02 Draft Classman and former Brave, Charlie Morton. After the game, when McCann was interviewed about his MLB journey, he said “The guy on the mound, I got drafted with him with the Atlanta Braves. First person I met in pro ball. I was 18 years old and to be sitting here at 33 years old, and for him to be pitching to me and closing out a World Series, it’s a memory I’ll never forget. That’s what we are doing here. We are making memories.”
Memories. That is what Brian McCann and the Astros made in 2017, very good ones at that. However, in 2018 the Astros would not reach the Big Dance, falling to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. That series would mark the end of his time in Houston. In November 2018, less than a month after falling to the Red Sox, McCann signed a one year deal with none other than his very first MLB club, the Atlanta Braves. There was an incredible joy from Braves fans for B-Mac’s return. He was expected to give the Braves a boost in the catcher’s position, replacing Kurt Suzuki in the rotation with Tyler Flowers (Random Fact #2: That same Kurt Suzuki is currently playing in the World Series against McCann’s former team, the Astros). Brian McCann seemed to be his younger self in 2019, playing like he was 25 again. In his final season, he recorded 69 hits over 277 at-bats, 9 of them being doubles and 12 of them being home runs. McCann finished the season with a .249 batting average (which means he hit 24.9% of the pitches he faced and was not called out), which was his highest BA since his final season in his first stint with the Braves.
On October 9, 2019, following Atlanta’s NLDS Game 5 choke against the St. Louis Cardinals, B-Mac announced his retirement. He told reporters he had made the decision to retire in August. “This is it for me,” McCann said. “I’m going to go home and be a dad and play with those kids.” Disappointment from fans, but congratulations from teammates. Retired Braves player and MLB Hall of Famer, Chipper Jones, as well as Houston Astros player Alex Bregman were some of the first to congratulate McCann, doing so on Twitter.
Brian McCann. That is a name that is associated with home runs, big smiles, and big beards. That is a name that will forever be etched into the Atlanta sports history books. That is a name that will one day appear on a plaque in Cooperstown. That is a name that will forever be remembered, cherished, and loved by Braves fans. Farewell, B-Mac. We hope retirement treats you well. Maybe come back as a manager in a few years though?
Sincerely,
Braves Nation
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