Ten-year Major League Baseball veteran and former Kansas City Royals player Brian McRae joined the Pirates' baseball staff for the 2013 season, and in 2013, he returns for his second season working with day-to-day program operations.
McRae, a Blue Springs native and the son of former Royals player, manager and coach Hal McRae, played for five MLB franchises, including the Royals, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays. His major league career began in 1990 after being drafted by the Royals in the first round of the 1985 first-year player draft.
He hit .261 in his career with 103 home runs and 532 RBIs, spending the majority of his career (1990-1994) in Kansas City, making his debut with the Royals on Aug. 7, 1990, against the Chicago White Sox. McRae played in more than 1,300 games in his major league career with over 5,100 at bats. He also stole 196 bases in 10 seasons.
McRae's main responsibilities will be hitting and baserunning, and will lend his knowledge to the outfielders.
McRae's coaching experience includes managing the Kansas City Sluggers, a traveling showcase baseball organization for 15-18 year olds in Kansas City. He also managed the 2012 Morehead City (N.C.) Marlins of the Coastal Plains League, a collegiate wood-bat summer organization.
He has also served as an analyst for the Chicago Cubs Network (WGN), MLB.com radio and ESPN's Baseball Tonight. He has also had ownership interest in WHB (810 AM), a sports radio station in Kansas City, and has devoted time to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
