Brian McCann got more than his share of air time in the 24 hours after his nose-to-nose confrontation with Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez that fueled a benches-clearing fracas Wednesday night.
McCann is featured, mask up, eyes blazing, and shouting at Gomez in countless photos from multiple angles and a myriad of video replays. McCann has had his actions analyzed by broadcasters who both supported and condemned his decision to block Gomez’s path to the plate in defense of pitcher Paul Maholm.
For his part, McCann had no regrets.
“In the heat of the moment, I did what I thought was right,” McCann said Thursday afternoon. “I stand by what I did. I’m sticking up for this team. I don’t think that’s a part of baseball. Reading what (Gomez) said last night, I think he agrees with it.”
Gomez apologized both through his comments to the media and on Twitter after the game, acknowledging “the adrenaline and emotion took it a little (far).”
Gomez had come into the game, charged up about being hit by a Maholm pitch on June 23. He was already staring Maholm down after swinging and missing the first pitch he saw in the first inning. After he homered on the next pitch, he jawed at Maholm all the way around the bases.
Gomez was still looking at Maholm after he rounded third base and only at the last minute did he see a bowed-up McCann up the third base line, ready to confront him.
“If you want to sit there and watch it for a few seconds, I’m OK with that,” McCann said. “But to round the bases and yell the whole way around the bases, I just I felt like I needed to say something. I don’t think that’s a part of the game of baseball. I thought he showed up our whole team. So I did what I felt any catcher would do in that situation. That’s sticking up for his teammate.”
McCann was reacting to the emotion of the moment.
“He rounded third base and was still yelling, and I was furious,” McCann said. “I don’t even know what happened after that.”
Unlike Gomez, McCann was not ejected from Wednesday’s game or suspended. He was levied a fine Thursday by Major League Baseball.
When asked for his take on defending some of baseball’s unwritten rules, McCann said: “I look at it as I play for the Atlanta Braves. I’m going to defend the Atlanta Braves. And I feel like last night, kind of got disrespected a little bit. I got mad and confronted him about it and benches cleared.”
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