Baseball America honors Braves' players

Baseball America, the premiere amateur baseball publication, has honored several of the Braves major leaguers and minor leaguers with postseason awards.

Baseball America has honored several Braves' players as they have announced their postseason awards.

Catcher Brian McCann and outfielder Jeff Francoeur were both named to the Baseball America All-Rookie Team.

McCann was called up June 7th to replace the injured Johnny Estrada. It only took a couple of days for the 21-year-old catcher to prove he was ready to take over the everyday role. McCann finished the season with a .278 batting average, a .345 on base percentage, 5 home runs, and 23 RBI in 180 at bats.

Francoeur got the call a month later and made his major league debut on July 7th against the Cubs. He showed early on he was ready for the big league challenge, as he homered in his first game against Chicago. Francoeur would take over the everyday right field duties and finish with a .300 batting average, a .336 on base percentage, 14 home runs, and 45 RBI in 257 at bats.

Ryan Langerhans and Wilson Betemit were both named to Baseball America's Second Team for the rookies. Langerhans hit .267 with 8 home runs and 42 RBI in 326 at bats, while Betemit hit .305 with 4 home runs and 20 RBI in 246 at bats.

Baseball America has also named its 2005 minor league All-Star Teams.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia was named as the first-team catcher in the minor leagues for 2005. "Salty Dog" hit .314 for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, along with 19 home runs, 81 RBI, and a .394 on base percentage.

And Chuck James was named one of the five pitchers on the first-team. James split the season between Myrtle Beach, Mississippi, and Richmond. Overall, he was 13-7 with a 2.12 ERA in 29 starts. He allowed only 103 hits in 161 innings of work, with only 36 walks, and 193 strikeouts.


Bill Shanks is the author of Scout's Honor: The Bravest Way To Build A Winning Team. He can be reached at .