Brian McCann announced on Wednesday that he’s retiring after being a part of the Atlanta Braves for 15 major league seasons. His statement came after Atlanta’s crushing 13-1 loss against the visiting St. Lois cardinals in the decisive 5th game of the National League Division Series.
The Georgian athlete started his career with the Braves and was named an all-star in seven of his nine seasons with them. He moved to the New York Yankees in 2014 and won the World series in 2017 after trading to the Houston Astros.
“This is it for me,” McCann told reporters, stating that he had made the decision about a month and a half ago. “I’m going to go home and be a dad and play with those kids.”
He had re-signed with Atlanta as a free agent last November, playing for manager Brian Snitker. Snitker had been McCann’s skipper at Double-A Mississippi when he was first called up to the majors in 2005 by the Braves.
“Yeah, he knew,” McCann said when asked if Snitker knew of his plans beforehand. “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.”
McCann is a six-time Silver slugger and passed his 1,000 career RBIs in his final season. He had a .262 average, 282 home runs and 1,018 RBIs. This season he hit .249 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs in 85 games.
“This is everything that I wanted to do,” McCann said. “I wanted to come back and get a chance at the postseason.”
Former teammates Chipper Jones and Alex Bregman were among those who quickly paid tribute to McCann via Twitter.