When you think of all-time great catchers, who comes to mind? For me the names Yogi Berra, Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk and Ivan Rodriguez have to be mentioned.
So would you put Brian McCann in the same boat as catchers like that? Well, not yet, but I do feel one day he will be among that select group.
For a Braves fan it is a no brainer that McCann is one of the best — if not the best — catchers in the league. But at what point will the majority of baseball fans, and of course those TV analysts, refer to Brian McCann as the number one catcher in the entire league?
Well, I think that day has finally come. McCann has been on a meteoric rise over the last several seasons, culminating this year with his sixth selection into the MLB All-Star game.
McCann has also been named the starting catcher for the National League All-Star team for the first time in his career.
And why shouldn’t he? Let’s not forget the clutch three-run double he hit in the seventh inning of the 2010 All-Star Game, giving the National League their first victory in an All-Star game since 1996 — which also landed him the title of MVP for the game.
One could argue that McCann deserved to start for the 2011 All-Star game even if he didn’t have good stats for the first half of the season. Luckily for McCann, and Braves fans as well, McCann has had a stellar season so far.
With a .314 batting average, 14 home runs, and 47 RBI as of this writing, McCann has certainly given baseball fans across the country no doubt as to who the starting catcher for the National League team should be.
But still, can we say that right now Brian McCann is the best catcher in the entire league?
If you look at the three catchers on the American League All-Star roster — Alex Avila, Russell Martin and Matt Wieters — you see good core catchers, but they have a total All-Star game selections between them of five.
Needless to say, none of those three American League catchers can give McCann a run for the title of the best catcher in the league at this time.
And on the National League side, the only other catcher on the 2011 All-Star team is Yadier Molina, and while Molina is a very good catcher, he does not have the offensive credentials to get past McCann.
But still it feels like I am forgetting someone. Oh yeah, it might be Joe Mauer.
If you asked me who the best catcher in the league was two years ago, or even last year for that matter, I would not hesitate to say it was Mauer — with McCann a close second of course.
But due to the fact that Mauer has spent most of his recent days on the disabled list, I think that it is hard to deny McCann the top catcher spot in the league at this time.
Now, of course, this could change, Mauer could come back to his 2009 MVP form after the All-Star game.
But, as of right now, I feel Brian McCann is the number one catcher in the entire league, and fully deserving of the starting position for the National League in the 2011 All-Star game.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to trollason@yahoo.com.
