McCann catching on

Monday, February 19, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry

With a smile, Braves catcher Brian McCann guesstimated that John Smoltz shook off about half of the pitch suggestions that McCann made in his rookie season of 2005. But McCann did not take any of that personally.

He has a reputation, already, as a catcher who gets it, who understands his role is to serve as a pitcher's counsel, or empathetic counselor, or baseball caddie, depending on who the pitcher is and what his needs are. McCann pays attention, and has the sort of innate curiosity that is crucial for catchers who play many years in the big leagues.

Sitting at his locker at the Braves' camp Sunday, he chatted about catching skills, and the catchers who have them.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

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