American baseball player (born 1967)
Baseball player
Brian Wesley McRae
(
; born August 27, 1967) is an American former
center fielder
in
Major League Baseball
who played for the
Kansas City Royals
,
Chicago Cubs
,
New York Mets
,
Colorado Rockies
and
Toronto Blue Jays
from
1990
to
1999
. McRae is the son of former major league
All-Star
,
Hal McRae
, and was also
managed
by the elder McRae for four seasons with Kansas City. It was only the fourth occurrence of a
major league manager managing his own son
.
McRae was a
switch hitter
and threw right-handed. His
batting average
was 38 points higher from the right side with a
slugging average
24 points higher but his
on-base percentage
was only seven points higher. McRae was a
leadoff batter
far more often (47%) than any other position in the lineup (second most was 22% batting second). He had a good history of injury avoidance, playing 150 or more
games
in five different seasons. The only seasons he did not play at least 130 games were his rookie season and the
strike-shortened 1994 season
when he finished second in the
National League
in games played. McRae never played in the
playoffs
, enduring a few near misses.
Early career and Kansas City
[
edit
]
Born in
Bradenton, Florida
, McRae attended
Manatee High School
and Blue Springs High School where he was a Missouri 2nd Team All State Selection
[1]
in
football
and 1st Team selection baseball. In 1985, McRae was predicted to be a lower-round draft pick in baseball. When he claimed that he would attend college and play both sports, the
University of Kansas
offered him a football
scholarship
. When the Kansas City Royals defied the predictions and chose the 17-year-old McRae in the first round (as the 17th pick), offering him a six-figure
signing bonus
, he changed his mind and bypassed college sports altogether.
[2]
McRae did not hit particularly well in the Royals'
minor league
system and did not reach AA until his fourth season. He did
steal bases
well though with 88 thefts in his first three seasons. He and his father, long-time Royal Hal McRae, became the first father-son combination to appear in a major league game when they were in the lineup together in a spring training game in 1987. McRae hit only .201 for the
Memphis Chicks
in
1988
and only .227 in
1989
. In
1990
, Kansas City's regular center fielder, two-sport all-star
Bo Jackson
, was having the best season of his baseball career when he went on the
disabled list
with a shoulder injury.
[3]
After trying veterans
Jim Eisenreich
and
Willie Wilson
in center, the Royals gave McRae a chance in early August. He responded by posting a better average in the majors than in any of his three seasons at AA. When he returned from the disabled list, Jackson was moved to left field and McRae became the everyday center fielder for the rest of that season and for the four subsequent seasons as well.
The Royals named Hal McRae as the team's manager for
1991
. With a firm hold on the center field job, Brian McRae posted largely average offensive statistics in Kansas City. On July 14, 1991, he set his career high with six
RBI
on a two-run home run and a
grand slam
, all from the
leadoff
spot, in an 18-4 rout in Detroit. Less than a week later, he started a career-best 22-game
hitting streak
, which lasted from July 20 to August 13.
1993
was his best offensive season with the Royals in several categories but he also logged a career-worst 105
strikeouts
.
Journeyman
[
edit
]
In
1994
, McRae's salary jumped from less than $400,000 to $1.9 million. He was in the top ten in the
American League
in
singles
and stolen bases when the 1994 strike ended the season in August. Shortly before the strike ended in April
1995
, McRae was traded to the Chicago Cubs for two players who combined to play only eight games in the majors after the trade. He responded to the trade by finishing fourth in the National League with 167
hits
, and second with a career-high 38
doubles
while leading the league with 580
at bats
. In
1996
, he set career highs with 111
runs scored
and 37 stolen bases while being
caught stealing
only nine times for a career-best 80% success rate.
The Cubs were paying McRae $3.9 million for
1997
but his numbers declined and the Cubs were sinking to the bottom of the division. On April 4, McRae was the batter for the first pitch ever thrown at
Turner Field
. In August, they traded him with
Mel Rojas
and
Turk Wendell
to the New York Mets in exchange for
Lance Johnson
,
Mark Clark
and
Manny Alexander
. McRae's statistics stayed largely below the league average for the rest of the season. The Mets missed the postseason for the ninth consecutive season.
Although his numbers declined in 1997, in
1998
, McRae led the Mets in doubles, triples and stolen bases while setting career highs in
home runs
,
RBI
,
walks
and slugging. He also led the team in caught stealing and strikeouts. On September 14, McRae hit a dramatic game-tying two-run home run in the ninth inning off the
Houston Astros
' ace
closer
,
Billy Wagner
. The Mets went on to win that game but narrowly missed the playoffs.
In
1999
, McRae was still being paid over $3.5 million but was batting only .221 for the Mets. At the trade deadline, New York traded him with
Rigo Beltran
and a minor leaguer to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for
Darryl Hamilton
and
Chuck McElroy
(the Mets went on to reach the
1999 NLCS
). Just nine days later, McRae was re-traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league pitcher Pat Lynch. After hitting just .195 for Toronto, he was benched in favor of
Vernon Wells
.
[4]
After the season, McRae was granted
free agency
and his career was over.
Post-career
[
edit
]
While at the University of Kansas, Brian McRae studied
broadcast journalism
. During his days with the Cubs, he spent time as an in-studio analyst for
WGN-TV
and
SportsChannel
.
[4]
After his playing days ended, McRae worked for
MLB.com
radio for five years as well as working on
ESPN
's
Baseball Tonight
. He also became a part owner of
WHB
810
AM
in Kansas City.
[5]
McRae has devoted time to
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
and the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
.
[4]
McRae also helped organize the 50 In 50 Charity with two friends. They'll play on 50 golf courses in 50 states in 50 days to raise over $1 million for cancer research.
[
when?
]
[
citation needed
]
McRae also finds time to coach NAIA Park University, located in Kansas City. He also coaches young kids at baseball camps in Kansas City.
On August 19, 2016, McRae signed a two-year contract as Head Coach of the WCL League
Victoria HarbourCats
.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
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- 1969
: Simmons
- 1970
: Goodson
- 1971
:
Branch
- 1972
:
Quirk
- 1973
: Olsen
- 1974
:
Wilson
- 1975
:
Hurdle
- 1976
: Gryzbek
- 1977
:
Jones
- 1978
:
Biancalana
- 1979
:
Hammaker
- 1980
:
Wills
- 1981
:
Leeper
- 1982
:
Morris
- 1983
:
Thurman
- 1984
:
Bankhead
- 1985
:
McRae
- 1986
: Clements
- 1987
:
Appier
- 1988
: Walker
- 1989
:
Mayne
- 1990:
None
- 1991
:
Vitiello
, Pruitt
- 1992
:
Tucker
,
Pittsley
, Clinkscales,
Damon
- 1993
:
Granger
- 1994
: Smith
- 1995
: Lebron
- 1996
:
Brown
- 1997
:
Reichert
- 1998
:
Austin
, Burch,
George
- 1999
:
Snyder
,
MacDougal
, Gehrke,
Gobble
- 2000
: Whatland
- 2001
: C. Griffin
- 2002
:
Greinke
- 2003
:
Lubanski
,
Maier
- 2004
:
Butler
, Campbell,
Howell
- 2005
:
Gordon
- 2006
:
Hochevar
- 2007
:
Moustakas
- 2008
:
Hosmer
,
Montgomery
- 2009
:
Crow
- 2010
:
Colon
- 2011
:
Starling
- 2012
:
Zimmer
- 2013
:
Dozier
- 2014
:
Finnegan
,
F. Griffin
- 2015
: Russell,
Watson
- 2016
:
None
- 2017
:
Pratto
- 2018
:
Singer
,
Kowar
,
Lynch
- 2019
:
Witt
- 2020
:
Lacy
- 2021
:
Mozzicato
- 2022
:
Cross
- 2023
:
Mitchell
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Hosts
| |
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Analysts
| |
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Reporters
| |
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Correspondents
| |
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Former
|
- Chris Berman
(1990?2016)
- Peter Gammons
(Lead Reporter, 1990?2009)
- Jayson Stark
(Reporter, 2000?2017)
- Pedro Gomez
(2004?2021)
- Steve Phillips
(Lead Analyst, 2005?2009)
- Eric Young Sr.
(Analyst, 2007?2009)
- Dallas Braden
(Analyst, 2014-2017)
- Doug Glanville
(Analyst, 2010-2017)
- Dusty Baker
(Analyst, 2007)
- Aaron Boone
(2010?2017)
- Larry Bowa
(Analyst, 2005)
- Jeff Brantley
(Analyst, 2002?2006)
- Dave Campbell
(Lead Analyst, 1990?2004)
- Rob Dibble
(Analyst, 1998?2004)
- Orel Hershiser
(2006?2013)
- Ray Knight
(Analyst, 1998?2003)
- John Kruk
(Lead Analyst, 2004?2016)
- Barry Larkin
(Lead Analyst, 2011-2014)
- Mike Macfarlane
(Analyst, 1999)
- Tino Martinez
(Analyst, 2006)
- Brian McRae
(Analyst, 2000?2005)
- Harold Reynolds
(Lead Analyst, 1996?2006)
- Bill Robinson
(Analyst, 1990?1991)
- Buck Showalter
(Lead Analyst, 2001?2002, 2008?2010)
- Gary Miller
(Lead Host, 1990?1995)
- Dave Marash
(Host, 1990)
- Rich Eisen
(Host, 1996?2002)
- Brian Kenny
(Host, 2003)
- Chris Myers
(Host, 1991?1995)
- Steve Berthiaume
(2003?2005, 2007?2012)
- Scott Reiss (Host, 2006)
- Eduardo Perez
(Analyst, 2007?2011)
- Orestes Destrade
(Analyst, 2005?2010)
- Bobby Valentine
(Lead Analyst, 2003, 2009?2011)
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