The Best Brave to Wear #16

See also: Best Brave By Uniform Number Index

It’s Chipper Jones! Just kidding. Chipper did wear #16, so in one of those “WELL, ACTUALLYYYYYY” internet ways, Chipper is the best. But he had 3 plate appearances. Granted, he did get 2 hits in those 3 PA, but I digress. Either way, Warren Spahn wore #16 at one point in time, so Chipper wouldn’t be the answer even if we did indulge in that sort of cheekiness.

The best Brave to wear #16 is Brian McCann. McCann was a beloved player for Atlanta, and despite that, he may still have been underappreciated by fans when he played. Today, we’re well aware of the value of pitch framing, partially because in Tyler Flowers, we have one of the game’s best.

Ten years ago, pitch framing was less well known. Brian McCann was an elite pitch framer from 2008-2012. During this period, he slashed .271/.351/.467, averaging 27 HR and 96 RBI per 162 games played. Had baseball been more in the know about pitch framing, there’s a chance McCann would have been an MVP candidate one of those years. He didn’t get a single vote for the 2008 NL MVP, and while he probably shouldn’t have beaten out Albert Pujols, he was more valuable than almost every other player who did turn up on ballots.

While McCann was an underrated player for much of his tenure, he still got some attention. In his 8 seasons as the primary starter, McCann was an NL All-Star 7 times, and a Silver Slugger 5 times. He finally got MVP votes in 2010, finishing 21st. Near the end of his Braves tenure, he seemed to excel at enforcing silly unwritten rules more than he did at being a dominant defender. He signed with the Yankees, and would finally win a World Series in 2017 with Houston, though that is has since been tainted by the Astros sign-stealing scandal. McCann returned to Atlanta for one final season in 2019, having a solid .249/.323/.412, 12 home run campaign in a time-share before hanging up the mask.

Honorable Mentions:

• Rafael Ramirez wasn’t a great player for very long, but he somehow finished 16th in the 1983 NL MVP race (.297/.337/.368), and he was somehow a 1984 NL All-Star in a season in which he posted a .295 on-base percentage.
• As a rookie for the 1958 NL champions, Carl Willey led the NL with 4 shutouts, and he impressively posted a 2.70 ERA.
• Ben Cantwell (1933-1935) finished 10th in the 1933 MVP race, going 20-10, 2.62 with 18 complete games. Two years later, he went, and I kid you not, 4-25.

Who Is the Best Ever to Wear #16?

Whitey Ford was an excellent pitcher, but I don’t know that he ever held the title of Best Pitcher Alive. Hal Newhouser, the best player to ever wear #16, certainly did.

In a 6 year span from 1944-1949, his average season was 23-11 with a 2.52 ERA and 295 innings. From ’42-’48 he was an All-Star 6 times, and in ’44-’45 won back to back AL MVP Awards (he finished 2nd in ’46). That ’44-’46 stretch is one of the best 3 year spans of dominance in MLB history, as Newhouser went an average of 27-9, 1.99, 306 innings per year.