Brian McCann is looking forward to a very special Tuesday in New York next week when he travels to Yankee Stadium for the All-Star Game.
Of course, the catcher is ecstatic to be playing in the contest at fabled Yankee Stadium, but he's also elated to be going there alongside teammate Chipper Jones. Jones and McCann have had a very special relationship ever since the catcher joined the Braves four years ago. The 36-year-old Jones has taken the young catcher -- who grew up watching Jones' Braves teams win division title after division title in the 1990s -- under his wing.
And McCann has quickly absorbed everything that the 1999 National League Most Valuable Player has taught him.
The proof is in McCann's results at the plate. The backstop has made the All-Star Game in each of his first three full seasons in the majors -- something that neither Jones nor Hall of Famer Hank Aaron accomplished.
Of course, the doe-eyed McCann was leery to be placed in any sort of company with the iconic Aaron.
"Don't put me in that (category)," McCann said after being told by a reporter that he had done something Aaron hadn't. "I don't know about that."
McCann's mentor couldn't be happier that his star pupil continues to make an All-Star splash.
"I'm so proud of the kid," said Jones, who breezed to his sixth All-Star Game selection by flirting with the .400 mark for most of the first half. "He's a good student of the game. He's a good kid. He continues to grow as a baseball player. It's nice to see him rewarded for all his hard work."
