Just think, when Astros veteran catcher Brian McCann was a rookie with the...
Posted by Buster Posey Fan Zone on
Just think, when Astros veteran catcher Brian McCann was a rookie with the Braves (Buster’s home team), Buster was just a junior at Lee County High School in Leesburg, GA. He’s been a good, solid player from the beginning. He’s played with the Braves (McCann is also from GA so imagine his excitement at having his home team draft him!), the Yankees, and now the Astros. Like BP, he’s known to be a catcher who can hit. He’s won the Silver Slugger Award 6 times, and been an All-Star 7 times. He hit his first home run in just 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. During the 2006 season, McCann led all MLB catchers in home runs. For 9 seasons, from 2007— to 2016, he hit 20 or more homers each season. This season he only played in 97 games due to being on the DL for a concussion. Even so, he still hit 18 home runs, but he failed to reach 20 for the first time since 2007, ending his streak at nine consecutive 20-home run seasons.
On April 14th of this year, McCann became just the 14th catcher to record over 10,000 putouts at the position. Like Buster, his philanthropic work is for the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to raising funds to support pediatric cancer research and treatments.
He’s had a long and interesting career. Some notable examples are, he hit the first walk-off home run reviewed by instant replay. He hit a line drive to right field. The ball struck the top of the right field wall. The umpires called it a double, but McCann and the Braves bench coach argued the call. Replays showed that the ball struck the top of the RF wall, bounced into the stands, and then onto the field. Thus, the umps overturned the call calling it a walk-off home run. Another notable distinction, he was put in as pinch runner for Derek Jeter, after Jeter's final career hit.
The great majority of Giants fans are rooting for the Astros to beat LA and win the World Series in game 7 tonight, but I am also really pulling for another catcher from Georgia to win a ring before he retires! (his contract is through next season with an option for 2019)
So Let’s Go Astros! Do it for #16!
