Brian McCann

He was ranked the 26th best high school prospect by Baseball America and initially committed to play college baseball for Alabama.

Brian Michael McCann (born February 20, 1984) is an American former professional baseball catcher.

He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros.

In the latter, he was named the MVP after driving in all three of the National League's runs with a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning (driving in Scott Rolen, Matt Holliday, and Marlon Byrd), off of Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Thornton, giving the NL a 3–1 victory, its first in the midsummer classic since 1996.

On August 29, McCann hit the first walk-off home run reviewed by instant replay.

McCann 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 Braves bench coach Chino Cadahia argued the call.

The umpires went to go review instant replay.

Replays showed that the ball struck the top of the right field wall, bounced into the stands, and then got onto the field.

Thus, the umpires overturned the call and called it a walk-off home run.

The Atlanta Braves selected him in the second round of the 2002 MLB draft.

McCann's older brother, Brad, played at Clemson and was selected in the sixth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Florida Marlins but was out of professional baseball by 2007.

McCann attended Duluth High School in Duluth, Georgia.

McCann made his MLB debut with the Braves on June 10, 2005 after playing in the minor leagues for the Rome Braves.

A personal catcher for John Smoltz for most of the 2005 season, McCann 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.

He accomplished the feat in the second inning of a 7–1 victory over Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the 2005 National League Division Series.

McCann was named the everyday starter when the Braves traded Johnny Estrada to the Diamondbacks.

During the 2006 season, McCann hit .333 with 24 homers and 94 RBI.

He led all Major League catchers in homers, and his RBI total was matched only by Jorge Posada and Victor Martinez.

McCann was selected to play in the 2006 MLB All-Star Game, in his first full major league season, and then again in both 2007 and 2008, making him the first Braves player ever to be selected to the National League All-Star team in each of his first three seasons.

The Braves rewarded McCann by buying out his arbitration years with a six-year, $27.8 million contract during spring training in 2007.

In 2008, he allowed more stolen bases than any other NL catcher, with 93.

Beginning in April 2009, McCann was bothered by blurry vision in his left eye, due to a slight vision change following 2007 LASIK surgery.

He decided to opt for glasses when contact lenses proved uncomfortable.

In May 2009, Oakley, Inc. made special glasses for McCann to correct the vision problem and allow for comfort under the catcher's mask.

McCann remarked, "I need my Oakleys. I have to have the wraparounds for my peripheral vision."

In 2009, he had more errors at catcher than any other major leaguer, with 12, and had the lowest fielding percentage among them (.988).

McCann was again selected for the All-Star Game in 2009 and 2010.

In 2010, he allowed more stolen bases than any other NL catcher, with 84.

During spring training, on March 9, 2011, McCann hit a line drive foul ball which struck minor league manager Luis Salazar, blinding him in the left eye.

On May 17, 2011, McCann hit 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.

Also in 2011, he allowed 104 stolen bases, more than any other major league catcher.

On July 27, 2012, he became the first player since Jim Thome in 2007 to homer in six straight games versus an opponent.

A seven-time All-Star and a six-time Silver Slugger Award winner, he won the 2017 World Series with the Astros.

McCann was born to Howard and Sherry McCann in Athens, Georgia.

At the time, 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 of his parents attended Oswego High School in Oswego, New York, where they would later be inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame.

McCann's father played college baseball at Mississippi State.

Howard McCann would eventually become the head coach at Marshall.