Early Career and Kansas City
Born in Bradenton, Florida, McRae attended Manatee High School and Blue Springs High School where he was a Missouri 2nd Team All State Selection in football and 1st Team selection baseball. In 1985, McRae was predicted to be a lower-round draft pick in baseball. When he claimed that he would attend college and play both sports, the University of Kansas offered him a football scholarship. When the Kansas City Royals defied the predictions and chose the 17-year-old McRae in the first round (as the 17th pick), offering him a six-figure signing bonus, he changed his mind and bypassed college sports altogether.
McRae did not hit particularly well in the Royals' minor league system and did not reach AA until his fourth season. He did steal bases well though with 88 thefts in his first three seasons. He and his father, long-time Royal Hal McRae, became the first father-son combination to appear in a major league game when they were in the lineup together in a spring training game in 1987. McRae hit only .201 for the Memphis Chicks in 1988 and only .227 in 1989. In 1990, Kansas City's regular center fielder, two-sport all-star Bo Jackson, was having the best season of his baseball career when he went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. After trying veterans Jim Eisenreich and Willie Wilson in center, the Royals gave McRae a chance in early August. He responded by posting a better average in the majors than in any of his three seasons at AA. When he returned from the disabled list, Jackson was moved to left field and McRae became the everyday center fielder for the rest of that season and for the four subsequent seasons as well.
The Royals named Hal McRae as the team's manager for 1991. With a firm hold on the center field job, Brian McRae posted largely average offensive statistics in Kansas City. On July 14, 1991, he set his career high with six RBI on a two-run home run and a grand slam, all from the leadoff spot, in an 18-4 rout in Detroit. Less than a week later, he started a career-best 22-game hitting streak, which lasted from July 20 to August 13. 1993 was his best offensive season with the Royals in several categories but he also logged a career-worst 105 strikeouts.
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