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Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves Announces Retirement from Playing Professional Baseball after Braves Playoff Loss

Introduction

Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves Announces Retirement from Playing Professional Baseball after Braves Playoff Loss

On Wednesday, October 9th, 2019 the Atlanta Braves catcher played in his last Major League Baseball game as he announced his retirements immediately after the Braves were eliminated from the 2019 MLB postseason. The Atlanta Braves were slaughtered on the field that day as the St. Louis Cardinals scored 10 runs in top of the first inning, and they ended up winning the game 13-1.

Brian McCann’s final professional baseball game as a player which was described above was enough to make anyone want to quit the game for good. It was a sad day for the Braves fans as they were eliminated from the MLB playoffs in the decisive winner take all game 5 of the National League Divisional Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Career Achievements and Honors

McCann played Major League Baseball for 15 seasons as the catcher for the Atlanta Braves, the New York Yankees, and the Houston Astros. He was a World Series champion (2017) while swinging for Houston. McCann was selected to the MLB All Star Game 7 times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013). Surprising enough he was the MVP of the All Star Game in 2010 as well. He also was awarded the Silver Slugger award 6 times (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013). That is an extremely nice MLB career if you ask me.

McCann was very well liked by his teammates, coaches, and the organizations that he represented every time he put his uniform on. As many catchers are, he was known for being a great team leader and he had a strong influence on all the ball clubs that he was around during his time in the big leagues. Although he may not be an MLB Hall of Fame player, he will go down in baseball history as a great player who was an amazing competitor.

Regular Season Statistics

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
2005 21 ATL NL 59 204 180 20 50 7 0 5 23 1 1 18 26 0.278 0.345 0.4 0.745 95 72 5 1 4 1 5 2  
2006 22 ATL NL 130 492 442 61 147 34 0 24 93 2 0 41 54 0.333 0.388 0.572 0.961 143 253 12 3 0 6 8 *2 AS,SS
2007 23 ATL NL 139 552 504 51 136 38 0 18 92 0 1 35 74 0.27 0.32 0.452 0.772 99 228 19 5 2 6 7 *2 AS
2008 24 ATL NL 145 573 509 68 153 42 1 23 87 5 0 57 64 0.301 0.373 0.523 0.896 135 266 17 4 0 3 4 *2 AS,SS
2009 25 ATL NL 138 551 488 63 137 35 1 21 94 4 1 49 83 0.281 0.349 0.486 0.834 119 237 17 5 3 6 3 *2/D AS,SS
2010 26 ATL NL 143 566 479 63 129 25 0 21 77 5 2 74 98 0.269 0.375 0.453 0.828 124 217 12 9 0 4 10 *2/D AS,MVP-21,SS
2011 27 ATL NL 128 527 466 51 126 19 0 24 71 3 2 57 89 0.27 0.351 0.466 0.817 122 217 10 2 0 2 14 *2/D AS,SS
2012 28 ATL NL 121 487 439 44 101 14 0 20 67 3 0 44 76 0.23 0.3 0.399 0.698 87 175 15 1 0 3 7 *2/D  
2013 29 ATL NL 102 402 356 43 91 13 0 20 57 0 1 39 66 0.256 0.336 0.461 0.796 118 164 9 5 0 2 3 2/D AS
2014 30 NYY AL 140 538 495 57 115 15 1 23 75 0 0 32 77 0.232 0.286 0.406 0.692 94 201 16 7 0 4 1 23D  
2015 31 NYY AL 135 535 465 68 108 15 1 26 94 0 0 52 97 0.232 0.32 0.437 0.756 105 203 7 11 0 7 3 *23/D MVP-24,SS
2016 32 NYY AL 130 492 429 56 104 13 0 20 58 1 0 54 99 0.242 0.335 0.413 0.748 99 177 15 7 0 2 2 2D/3  
2017 33 HOU AL 97 399 349 47 84 12 1 18 62 1 0 38 58 0.241 0.323 0.436 0.759 106 152 9 7 0 5 3 2/D  
2018 34 HOU AL 63 216 189 22 40 3 0 7 23 0 1 19 40 0.212 0.301 0.339 0.64 76 64 7 6 0 2 0 2/D  
2019 35 ATL NL 85 316 277 28 69 9 0 12 45 0 0 31 53 0.249 0.323 0.412 0.734 86 114 10 2 0 6 1 2  
15 Yrs       1755 6850 6067 742 1590 294 5 282 1018 25 9 640 1054 0.262 0.337 0.452 0.789 110 2740 180 75 9 59 71    
162 Game Avg.       162 632 560 68 147 27 0 26 94 2 1 59 97 0.262 0.337 0.452 0.789 110 253 17 7 1 5 7    
ATL (10 yrs)       1190 4670 4140 492 1139 236 2 188 706 23 8 445 683 0.275 0.348 0.469 0.817 115 1943 126 37 9 39 62    
NYY (3 yrs)       405 1565 1389 181 327 43 2 69 227 1 0 138 273 0.235 0.313 0.418 0.731 99 581 38 25 0 13 6    
HOU (2 yrs)       160 615 538 69 124 15 1 25 85 1 1 57 98 0.23 0.315 0.401 0.717 96 216 16 13 0 7 3    
NL (10 yrs)       1190 4670 4140 492 1139 236 2 188 706 23 8 445 683 0.275 0.348 0.469 0.817 115 1943 126 37 9 39 62    
AL (5 yrs)       565 2180 1927 250 451 58 3 94 312 2 1 195 371 0.234 0.314 0.414 0.727 98 797 54 38 0 20 9    

Career Playoff Statistics

Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB WPA
2005 21 ATL NL NLDS HOU L 3 16 16 2 3 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 6 0.188 0.188 0.563 0.75 9 0 0 0 0 0 -0.15
2010 26 ATL NL NLDS SFG L 4 16 14 2 6 1 0 1 3 0 0 1 4 0.429 0.438 0.714 1.152 10 0 0 0 1 0 0.34
2012 28 ATL NL NLWC STL L 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0   1     0 0 0 0 0 0 0.03
2013 29 ATL NL NLDS LAD L 4 16 13 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 0 0.188 0 0.188 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.22
2015 31 NYY AL ALWC HOU L 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.07
2017 33 HOU AL ALDS BOS W 4 17 16 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0.125 0.176 0.125 0.301 2 0 1 0 0 0 -0.37
2017 33 HOU AL ALCS NYY W 6 20 16 1 3 2 0 0 3 0 0 3 5 0.188 0.35 0.313 0.663 5 1 1 0 0 0 0.21
2017 33 HOU AL WS LAD W 7 28 25 2 5 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 8 0.2 0.286 0.32 0.606 8 1 2 0 0 0 -0.21
2018 34 HOU AL ALDS CLE W 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.08
2018 34 HOU AL ALCS BOS L 3 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.2
2019 35 ATL NL NLDS STL   4 14 13 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.154 0.214 0.231 0.445 3 0 0 0 0 1 -0.23
8 Yrs (11 Series)             38 140 125 8 21 4 0 4 16 0 0 10 38 0.168 0.25 0.296 0.546 37 2 4 0 1 1 -0.95
1 ALWC             1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.07
1 NLWC             1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0   1     0 0 0 0 0 0 0.03
2 ALDS             5 20 19 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 0.105 0.15 0.105 0.255 2 0 1 0 0 0 -0.45
4 NLDS             15 62 56 5 11 2 0 3 9 0 0 5 18 0.196 0.258 0.393 0.651 22 0 0 0 1 1 -0.27
2 ALCS             9 25 21 1 3 2 0 0 3 0 0 3 6 0.143 0.28 0.238 0.518 5 1 1 0 0 0 0.01
1 WS             7 28 25 2 5 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 8 0.2 0.286 0.32 0.606 8 1 2 0 0 0 -0.21

Media Statements

"This is it for me," McCann said in the club house to reporters declaring that he made up his mind on retiring after this season about 6 weeks ago. "I'm going to go home and be a dad and play with those kids."

"Yeah, he knew," McCann explained in regards to letting his manager know. "I've known him for a long, long time. He was my Double-A manager. Being able to do this with him as my manager is something I'll always remember."

"This is everything that I wanted to do," he said. "I wanted to come back and get a chance at the postseason."

Former player for the Atlanta Braves, Chipper Jones, had this to say on Twitter, “To one of my favorite teammates ever.....congrats on a fabulous career! Thanks for keeping me young and keeping me from retiring a couple yrs earlier. Ur a true pro, a leader of men, a great father and a best friend! Have a great retirement, Brian McCann! Ur the best out there”

“Brian McCann is one of the best catchers to ever play the game but also the best dude I met in Professional Baseball. Love you bro,” Alex Bregman stated.

Sources:

“Atlanta Braves' Brian McCann to retire after 15-year career”, espn.com, October 9, 2019.

“Brian McCann”, baseball-reference.com, October 9, 2019.