T.J. McCants was a senior shortstop for Pensacola Catholic in 2019 when he played at Blue Wahoos Stadium, while knowing a college future was ahead.
That’s also when thoughts occurred of returning to Pensacola one day as a professional player.
“I knew if I was lucky enough to be a (NCAA) Division I player that it was always a possibility,” said McCants, who went on to play at Ole Miss and Alabama.
Fate has been kind.
McCants produced his first Double-A level hit, a dramatic two-strike, bases-loaded, game-tying, double on June 17 that led the Birmingham Barons in their final at-bat to a 6-3 comeback win against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in the second game of that night’s doubleheader at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
In the stands were his parents, other family members and friends. McCants, now a left fielder, had been hitless in his first three games with the Barons since joining the ballclub on June 10 from the Winston-Salem Dash, the Chicago White Sox High-A affiliate.
After going 0-for-2 in the game against the Blue Wahoos, McCants barreled up a fastball and launched into the left-center gap at Blue Wahoos Stadium, raising his hands in celebration when he stopped at second base and teammates cheered.
“Honestly, it was a little more special, just because where I was at that time (0-for-11 in Double-A), the situation,” said McCants, who helped the Ole Miss Rebels in 2022 to the College World Series championship. “But it’s baseball and you go through ups and downs and luckily I had one of my highs of the season.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play. It was a nice feeling.”
He then hit his first home run for the Barons on June 18, igniting a wild seven-run rally that eventually led to 16-13 Barons victory in what became the Blue Wahoos longest game in history.
It was halted by a wave of thunderstorms in the top of the seventh inning, then resumed at 12:15 a.m. after a 3-hour, 40-minute delay and eventual, 6-hour 54 minute game.
In his first three games against the Blue Wahoos, McCants collected three hits, scored four runs and had three RBI. McCants, who turned 25 on June 6, was in the lineup Saturday night for the fifth game of the series.
Both teams won two games. The Blue Wahoos needed to win the final two games for any realistic chance of winning the first half of the Southern League South Division race.
The six-day stretch of games have occurred in his hometown, playing in a stadium where he once played games for the Catholic Crusaders and watched other Blue Wahoos games from the stands.
“It’s kind of weird for me, being on this field where I grew up watching guys that I admired,” McCants said. “People have come out (this week) and showed love and I appreciate it.”
His younger brother, Jordan McCants, 24, was the Miami Marlins third-round draft pick in 2021, No. 88 overall, following his senior year at Pensacola Catholic.
After four minor league seasons, all spent in Jupiter playing for the Marlins’ Florida Complex League (rookie league) team and then for Class A Jupiter Hammerheads, Jordan was released before the 2025 season.
TJ said his brother was set to play for an Independent League team this season in Ohio before an injury set him back. A decision awaits on trying to continue playing or move into something else.
“He’s rehabbing now,” TJ McCants said. “I don’t push him towards staying with it or hanging ‘em up. I know how hard baseball can be.
“I leave it up to him. If he wants to stay with it, great, but I’ll be supporting him, encouraging either way.”
TJ McCants became a forever hero at Ole Miss after his performance in the CWS helped lead the Rebels to their first national title in baseball. He hit a two-run homer in the first game of the championship series against Oklahoma and had hit and scored a run in the decisive second game.
He played his final college season in 2024 at Alabama, where he started in 56 games as the Crimson Tide’s centerfielder.
He began his senior year with a 22-game hitting streak, which included tying the Alabama single-game record for home runs (3) and total bases (14) against Alabama State.
That season helped him get drafted. The White Sox took him in the 16th round of the 2024 draft.
This season he has played at three different levels, including a four-game stint with the Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights. McCants did not have a hit in five at-bats.
Ironically, both Alabama and Ole Miss played in the College World Series before getting eliminated. McCants said he watched parts of “a couple games,” but the rigors of playing nearly every day in professional baseball require a laser focus.
“I’m just trying to go day by day, trying to keep my body healthy,” he said.