Three weeks before any All-Star voting update could measure the latest strides Brian McCann has taken in his career, one phone call on the way home from the ballpark summed it up pretty well.
The Braves catcher, about to receive his sixth All-Star selection and his first start in Phoenix, received an earful from his big brother.
“He got on me,” McCann said of Brad McCann, his only brother, best friend, former minor-leaguer for the Florida Marlins and a hitting instructor working with their father. "[He said] ‘What are you doing? You’ve got two homers and one double at the end of the first month.’”
McCann hit a fairly robust .292 in April. He had done what he set out to do: use the opposite field to raise his average after hitting a career-low .269 last year. He felt good at the plate.
The four-time Silver Slugger was in the best shape of his life and seeing the ball better, than he had in two years, literally. He didn’t argue, though. He agreed. The two kept talking.
McCann was home in Suwanee an hour into the call but wanted more input. He drove to his brother’s house in Lawrenceville, with midnight approaching, so they could talk face to face.
Brad McCann had noticed his brother leaning out over the plate, which cost him leverage, and therefore power. He demonstrated what he meant in his living room, grabbing a bat.
“It was locking him up where he couldn’t get his arms out in front of him and drive the baseball,” said Brad McCann, 28, who works with their father, Howie McCann, at their family-owned Windward Academy in Alpharetta. “He’s still good enough to be able to see the ball and hit it hard. When you’re hitting in the four-hole, you’ve got to hit with some power. He knew it.”
McCann took a more upright stance into the batting cage the next morning. He came off the bench in the ninth inning that day against the Astros, and, with two outs and two strikes on him, tied the game with a home run to the opposite field.
Two innings later, he won the game with a two-run homer. He became only the second player in major league history to tie a game with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth and win it with a walk-off homer in extra innings.
In two swings that day, he had as many home runs as he’d hit in the first 37 games. Over the next 37 games, he hit 12 home runs. McCann entered the All-Star break hitting .310 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs, leading the Braves in every major offensive category.
He took the lead in the All-Star vote from injured Giants catcher Buster Posey in early June and never trailed again.
“He is by far the best I’ve ever seen him,” Brad McCann said. “He looks confident. He’s on every pitch. His body looks good. He looks rested. He looks like he’s got a lot of energy.”
Brian McCann has been an All-Star for each of the six full seasons in the majors. He homered off Roger Clemens in his first trip to the postseason. He’s led a charmed baseball life, but with good reason. He never gets complacent.
At 27, McCann knew he was entering his baseball prime. He raised his efforts to meet it. He lost 15 pounds. He lifted heavier weights into the season to keep his strength up. He kept making adjustments at the plate.
“I think after every season I’ve taken something away that I need to get better at and I’ve kind of combined my first five seasons,” McCann said.
David Ross, Braves backup catcher and a close friend, marvels at how much desire McCann plays with, even on a rare night when he goes 0-for-4. Last Tuesday against the Rockies, McCann got as upset as he’s been all season at the home plate umpire for not checking for help on a third strike against him that had bounced in the dirt. It was the third out of the inning, with nobody on base, but McCann was livid.
“He puts everything he has into each at-bat, into calling a game, into throwing runners out,” Ross said. “He wants to be the perfect player." Even when he has some struggles at times, I just tell him, ‘There are not too many catchers that hit, catch, throw, call a good game, are good defensively,' and for me he’s got all of them."
McCann uses his struggles to get better. None was more difficult than the vision problems he faced the past two seasons involving Lasik surgery. He battled blurry vision and dry eyes while adjusting to playing with glasses, contacts and assorted eye drops.
“There would be some nights where if we faced a lefty, I pretty much knew I was taking an 0-for-4,” McCann said. “It was just a matter of maybe I might get a bloop hit.”
McCann's vision improved with better eye drops, adjustment time to the surgery and better hydration.
“I felt if I could get through the last couple years I could get through anything,” McCann said.
Despite feeling “handcuffed,” he hit 21 home runs each of the past two seasons. He’s on pace for a career-high 27 home runs. His confidence is showing.
“He walks up to the plate and his mechanics are sound, and he knows if that guys messes up he’s going to hurt him,” third baseman Chipper Jones said. “That’s an awesome feeling to have as a hitter, especially when you have a guy who’s capable of taking you out of the ballpark at any moment. And he’s a .300 hitter. He is just reaping the fruit that he deserves. He’s worked hard to hone his skills.”
McCann leads the Braves in batting average, on-base and slugging percentage, while playing the most demanding defensive position.
He moved into the No. 3 spot in the batting order, held down by Jones for the past 16 years. He’s claimed more of the clubhouse leadership role, too.
“Whenever Chipper stops playing, this will be his clubhouse, and his team and his organization,” Ross said.
McCann has been making All-Star teams since he was 9, playing for League Six in Huntington, W. Va., and every all-star or all-tournament team available to him ever since.
In 18 years, he’s come from celebrating with post-game pool parties to having his picture taken with Commissioner Bud Seligwhile holding the game’s MVP award last year. On Tuesday night, millions will watch on TV as he is introduced as a starter for the first time.
After losing out to Yadier Molina of St. Louis and Geovanny Soto of Chicago in recent years, players in bigger or more baseball-crazed markets, McCann won the All-Star vote at catcher this year by almost 2 million votes.
Baseball fans across the country are doing what fans in Atlanta have done for a while -- appreciate him. Not surprisingly, McCann works at that, too.
On a recent off day, McCann and his brother went to a movie in Duluth at the same theater they visited as kids. He was approached by fans, as he often is.
“People come up to him all the time and tell him how great he is,” Brad McCann said. “He never shies away from that or walks away. He greets every person. He says hello and thank you. It’s really amazing.”
McCann, hours before boarding a plane to Phoenix, explained why: “When people recognize you, give them 15, 20 seconds, and they’ll remember it.”
He has reason to appreciate them, too.
