Brian McCann Had a Good Career But He Won't Go to Cooperstown

After the Atlanta Braves were eliminated from the NLDS today, catcher Brian McCann announced his retirement after 15 seasons.

McCann, a Georgia native, was drafted by the Braves in the 2nd round of the 2002 MLB draft. He made his big league debut in 2005. Between 2006 and 2013, McCann made the NL All-Star Team seven times earning the All-Star Game MVP in 2010. After three seasons with the New York Yankees, McCann earned a World Series ring with the Houston Astros in 2017 before returning to the Braves this year. McCann also won the Silver Slugger six times. He finishes his career with a lifetime batting average of .262 with 282 HR and 1018 RBIs in 1755 games.

The MLB Network thinks McCann has a shot at Cooperstown. There's no question he had a good career. But so too did Lance Parrish. He also earned 6 Silver Sluggers, was named to eight All-Star Teams (7 in the AL & once in the NL) and earned a World Series ring with the Detroit Tigers in 1984.  
Parrish finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .252 with 324 HR and 1070 RBI in 1988 games. Despite these credentials, Parrish received 1.7% of the BBWAA vote in his only year on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2001.

Granted, Parrish had exactly 1,000 more at bats than McCann. Had McCann got these 1,000 at bats he could have probably eclipsed Parrish's home run totals. But I doubt there would be any more All-Star appearances or Silver Sluggers in his future. McCann's best days as a player were behind him.

Even you argue that McCann did more than Parrish over a shorter career span what puts Parrish ahead of McCann is his three Gold Gloves. But if that couldn't move 2% of the nation's baseball writers to vote for him I suspect McCann's numbers won't garner 2% of BBWAA support come 2025.

But if McCann does somehow make his way to Cooperstown one would hope this would move the Veterans Committee to give Parrish a second look.