James Thomas McCann (born June 13, 1990) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Prior to his professional career, McCann played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. McCann has also competed for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

. In 2019, as a member of the White Sox, he was named to the MLB All-Star Game. McCann has caught two no-hitters in the major leagues: one pitched by Lucas Giolito in 2020 with the White Sox, and one pitched by

Tylor Megill Tylor J. Megill (born July 28, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021. He pitched five innings of a combined no-hitter in April 2022. His nickname is ...

, Drew Smith,

Joely Rodríguez Joely Rodríguez Sánchez (born November 14, 1991) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, New York Yanke ...

Seth Lugo Jacob Seth Lugo (born November 17, 1989), nicknamed "Quarterrican", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets. Lugo made his MLB deb ...

and

Edwin Díaz Edwin Orlando Díaz Laboy (born March 22, 1994) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Seattle Mariners. Within two months of his MLB debut, Díaz brok ...

in 2022 with the Mets.

Early life

McCann was born on June 13, 1990 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. His mother Carla suffered a torn

amniotic sac The amniotic sac, also called the bag of waters or the membranes, is the sac in which the embryo and later fetus develops in amniotes. It is a thin but tough transparent pair of membranes that hold a developing embryo (and later fetus) until shor ...

while she was pregnant with McCann, and she spent the bulk of the pregnancy on bed rest. During that time, she watched local sports, particularly the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

(MLB). After McCann was born, his mother served as his

tee ball Tee-ball (also teeball, tee ball or T-ball) is a team sport based on a simplified form of baseball or softball. It is intended as an introduction for children aged 4 to 6 to develop ball-game skills and have fun. Description Tee-ball association ...

coach and drove him to and from

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationAll-Star

Jeff McNeil Jeff McNeil (born April 8, 1992), nicknamed "Squirrel" or "Flying Squirrel", is an American professional baseball utility player for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 2022, he won the MLB Batting Title and the Silver Slugger A ...

Amateur career

McCann attended

Dos Pueblos High School Dos Pueblos High School is a public high school located in Goleta, California, northwest of Santa Barbara. Located adjacent to the foothills on the edge of the Goleta Valley in an area known as El Encanto Heights, it serves a student body of appr ...

in Goleta, California. He played baseball in the

Channel League The Channel League is a high school athletic conference in California affiliated with the CIF Southern Section. As of the 2018–19 school year, all member schools are located in Santa Barbara County, California. Schools *Dos Pueblos High School, G ...

and was named to the all-league first team in 2006 2007, and 2008. Out of high school, the White Sox drafted McCann in the 31st round of the

2008 MLB draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

, but he did not sign, opting to attend college at Arkansas. Mississippi State at Arkansas baseball, 2011 005

At Arkansas, McCann played

for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's (NCAA) Division I. As a freshman in 2009, he teamed with future big leaguers

Dallas Keuchel Dallas Keuchel (, ; born January 1, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas Rang ...

, Drew Smyly, Mike Bolsinger,

Brett Eibner Brett William Eibner (born December 2, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher and outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami ...

and Andy Wilkins to help the Razorbacks reach the 2009 College World Series. As a team captain in his sophomore season, McCann hit a walk-off home run to beat the #14 LSU Tigers, 4–3, in front of a Baum Stadium record crowd of 11,103. The home run was voted as the third-most memorable moment in Baum Stadium history by Razorbacks fans in 2014. In 2010, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Cotuit Kettleers of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. In his junior season, McCann had a .306 batting average, six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 14 doubles, 11

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, 38

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs) and 35

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

in 61

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

and was named a semifinalist for the

Johnny Bench Award The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, was created in 2000 to honor college baseball's top catcher in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The award is administered by the Greater Wichita Area Sp ...

, presented to the best catcher in NCAA's Division I. After the 2011 college baseball season, McCann played for the

in the

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

and the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

, winning the silver medal in the latter.

Professional career

Minor league career (2011–2014)

The Tigers selected McCann in the second round, with the 76th overall selection, of the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. He was Detroit's first selection of the draft, and the first of four catchers the team selected. He signed with the Tigers and made his professional debut in 2011, playing five games with the

Gulf Coast Tigers The Florida Complex League Tigers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Tigers. The team plays its home ga ...

of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League before being promoted to the

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpark. ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. The Tigers invited McCann to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 2012. He began the 2012 season with the Lakeland Tigers of the Class A-Advanced

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

, and received a promotion to the

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

of the Class AA Eastern League on June 6, though be batted only .200 for Erie. After adjusting his offensive approach, McCann responded with a .283 average through July 14 of the 2013 season, and appeared in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. He ended the season with a .277 average, eight home runs, 30 doubles, 54 RBIs, and an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .731. McCann began the 2014 season with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

of the Class AAA

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. McCann finished the season with the Mud Hens batting .295 with seven home runs, 54 RBIs, and a .770 OPS.

Detroit Tigers (2014–2018)

2014–2015

On September 1, 2014, McCann was called up by the Detroit Tigers. He made his MLB debut that day in the bottom of the ninth inning, replacing catcher

Alex Avila Alexander Thomas Avila (born January 29, 1987) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2009 and 2021 he played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins and Washingt ...

. McCann got his first MLB start on September 19, 2014, catching for Justin Verlander against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. McCann had two hits (both to center field), a stolen base, and scored twice. In spring training in 2015, McCann won the job as the team's backup catcher to Avila. He hit his first major league home run, an inside-the-park home run, on April 29, 2015. On May 21, 2015, he hit his first conventional home run, a walk-off in the 11th inning to give the Tigers a 6–5 victory over the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. McCann became the first MLB player to hit an inside-the-park home run and a walk-off home run for his first two career home runs since Tim Raines in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. On June 28, 2015, McCann hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Tigers a 5–4 victory over the

. McCann became the first MLB player to hit an inside-the-park home run and two walk-off home runs for his first three career home runs since Tony Piet in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. McCann set the modern major league record for the number of consecutive games played at catcher to start a career without an error, surpassing the previous record of 93 set by

Frankie Pytlak Frank Anthony Pytlak (July 30, 1908 – May 8, 1977) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians (1932–40) and Boston Red Sox (1941 and 1945–46). He was known as a lin ...

from

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. McCann finished the 2015 season with no errors in 112 games played at catcher to lead all MLB catchers in fielding percentage. He became the sixth catcher in major league history to catch at least 100 games in a season without committing an error, following

Chris Iannetta Christopher Domenic Iannetta (, ; born April 8, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbac ...

and Chris Snyder in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Mike Matheny in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, Charles Johnson in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

Buddy Rosar Warren Vincent "Buddy" Rosar (July 3, 1914 – March 13, 1994) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1939 to 1951 for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Athletics, an ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

. He also threw out 41 percent of would-be base stealers (versus a league average of 32 percent), helping him earn the nickname "McCannon" among Detroit fans. McCann was named the 2015 Detroit Tigers/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year. He finished the 2015 season with a .264 average (106-for-401), 18 doubles, five triples, seven home runs and 41 RBIs, while throwing out 41 percent of potential base stealers. His 29 multi-hit games ranked fourth among American League rookies.

2016–2018

On April 11, 2016, McCann suffered a Grade 2 right

ankle sprain A sprained ankle, also known as a twisted ankle or rolled ankle, is an injury where sprain occurs on one or more ligaments of the ankle. It is the most common injury to occur in ball sports, such as basketball, volleyball, football, and racquet s ...

and was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. On May 31, 2016, McCann's Major League record of 139 games to start a career at catcher without committing an error ended. For the 2016 season, McCann batted .221 with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs in 105 games. Following the season, McCann was named a

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

finalist for catcher, along with Carlos Pérez and

Salvador Pérez Salvador Johan Pérez Diaz (born May 10, 1990), nicknamed "Salvy", is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball catcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a seven-time MLB All-Star, five-time Gold Glove Award win ...

. McCann threw out 45 percent of would-be base stealers, second-highest among AL catchers, and led his position with nine double plays. His nine Defensive Runs Saved rating also ranked second in the AL. On May 26, 2017, McCann was put on the 10 day DL because of a left hand laceration. He returned to the Tigers on June 9 against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. McCann struggled at the plate through June, finishing the month with a .194 batting average and .268 on-base percentage. However, a hot July including a ten-game hitting streak to finish off the month and four multi-hit games pushed McCann's average to the .246 mark with a .321 on-base percentage. For all of July, McCann batted .396 (19-for-48) with a .473 OBP, seven extra-base hits and 11 runs batted in. His hitting streak would extend to 14 games before ending on August 5. McCann finished the 2017 season with a .253 batting average, while hitting 13 home runs in 352 at-bats. On January 11, 2018, the Tigers signed McCann to a one-year deal worth $2.375 million, avoiding arbitration. McCann played in a career-high 118 games during the 2018 season, posting a .220 batting average with 8 home runs and 39 RBIs. He threw out 36% of potential base stealers, versus a league average of 28%. On November 30, 2018, the Tigers non-tendered McCann and he became a free agent.

Chicago White Sox (2019–2020)

On December 19, 2018, McCann signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the

. McCann had his best start to a major league season in 2019, batting .319 (67-for-210) with 9 home runs by the end of June. He was invited to his first All-Star Game, where he hit a single in his only plate appearance. He finished the year hitting .273 with 18 home runs and 60 RBIs, all career highs. The White Sox retained McCann for the 2020 season, tendering a $5.4 million one-year contract. On August 25, 2020, McCann was the catcher when Lucas Giolito threw the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history. Overall with the 2020 Chicago White Sox, McCann batted .289 with seven home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.

New York Mets (2021–2022)

On December 15, 2020, McCann signed a four-year, $40.6 million contract with the

. He appeared in 112 games for the Mets during the 2021 season, batting .232 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs. In May 2022, McCann had surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his left wrist, missing six weeks, and returned to the injured list in July with a strained oblique muscle. McCann batted .195 in 61 games in the 2022 season.

Baltimore Orioles

McCann was acquired along with cash considerations by the

on December 21, 2022. On January 13, 2023, minor league outfielder Luis De La Cruz was sent to the Mets to complete the trade.

Personal life

McCann and his wife, Jessica, were married in November 2014. They reside in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The couple had their first children, a set of twins, in December 2017. He is an avid hunter, including an annual preseason duck hunt along the

Mississippi flyway The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of t ...

near

Carlisle, Arkansas Carlisle is a city in Lonoke County, Arkansas, United States. It is the easternmost municipality within the Little Rock–North Little Rock– Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. Carlisle was incorporated in 1878. As of the 2010 census i ...

. McCann is also a devout Christian who told an interviewer in 2017 that he does not drink alcohol, considering it to be "poison" to an athlete's body.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, James 1990 births Living people American League All-Stars Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Baseball players from California Chicago White Sox players Cotuit Kettleers players Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Gulf Coast Tigers players Lakeland Flying Tigers players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball catchers Mesa Solar Sox players New York Mets players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Goleta, California Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California Toledo Mud Hens players United States national baseball team players West Michigan Whitecaps players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Mat-Su Miners players