Brian McCann

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

McCann was born to Howard and Sherry McCann in Athens, Georgia. His father worked as an assistant baseball coach for the Georgia Bulldogs Baseball under Steve Webber and his mother worked at Athens Regional Hospital. Both parents attended Oswego High School in Oswego, New York, and were later inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame. McCann's father played college baseball at Mississippi State and eventually became head coach at Marshall. McCann's older brother, Brad, played at Clemson and was selected in the sixth round of the 2004 MLB draft by the Florida Marlins but was out of professional baseball by 2007. McCann attended Duluth High School in Duluth, Georgia, was ranked the 26th best high school prospect by Baseball America, and initially committed to play college baseball for Alabama. The Atlanta Braves selected him in the second round of the 2002 MLB draft. McCann made his MLB debut on June 10, 2005, after playing in the minor leagues for the Rome Braves. He was a personal catcher for John Smoltz for most of the 2005 season, hit his first home run in his second regular-season game, and became the first Braves player in franchise history to hit a home run in his first playoff at-bat on October 6, 2005. He was named the everyday starter when the Braves traded Johnny Estrada to the Diamondbacks. In 2006, McCann hit .333 with 24 homers and 94 RBI, leading all Major League catchers in homers; his RBI total was matched only by Jorge Posada and Victor Martinez. The Braves bought out his arbitration years with a six-year, $27.8 million contract during spring training in 2007. McCann was selected to the 2006 All-Star Game in his first full season, and again in 2007 and 2008, making him the first Braves catcher ever selected to the National League All-Star team in each of his first three seasons. In 2008, he allowed more stolen bases than any other NL catcher, with 93. Beginning in April 2009, he was bothered by blurry vision in his left eye due to a slight vision change following 2007 LASIK surgery; he opted for glasses, and Oakley, Inc. made special glasses for him. In 2009, he had more errors at catcher than any other major leaguer, with 12, and the lowest fielding percentage among them (.988). He was selected for the All-Star Game in 2009 and 2010, and in the 2010 game he was named MVP after driving in all three of the National League's runs with a

In Their Own Story

On March 9, 2011, during spring training, McCann hit a line drive foul ball that struck minor league manager Luis Salazar, blinding him in the left eye. Despite this tragedy, his season continued with dramatic moments. On May 17, 2011, he delivered a ninth-inning, game-tying pinch-hit home run and an 11th-inning game-winning two-run home run to defeat the Houston Astros 3–1. By July 27, 2012, he became the first player since Jim Thome in 2007 to homer in six straight games versus a single opponent. His final All-Star selection as a Brave came on July 14, 2013, when National League manager Bruce Bochy chose him to replace the injured Freddie Freeman. Offensively, he was a powerhouse, though defensively he faced challenges; in 2008 and 2010, he allowed more stolen bases than any other NL catcher (93 and 84 respectively), and in 2011, he allowed 104 stolen bases, the most of any major league catcher. In May 2009, Oakley, Inc. created special glasses for him to correct blurry vision caused by a change following his 2007 LASIK surgery.

Reader's Guide

McCann is one of only four catchers to win the Silver Slugger Award six times and the only catcher to win the award in both the National League and American League. He won five Silver Slugger Awards with the Braves (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) and one with the Yankees (2015). He was a seven-time All-Star (2006–2010, 2013). He won the 2017 World Series with the Astros.

Did You Know?

• McCann was the first Braves catcher ever selected to the National League All-Star team in each of his first three seasons (2006–2008).
• In 2006, McCann led all Major League catchers in home runs (24) and tied with Jorge Posada and Victor Martinez for the most RBI among catchers (94).
• McCann hit the first walk-off home run reviewed by instant replay on August 29, 2010.
• He is the only catcher to win the Silver Slugger Award in both the National League and American League.
• McCann had the slowest sprint speed of all major league players in 2019, at 22.2 feet/second.