Prior to being drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 1986 amateur draft, McNamara attended both James Madison High School and North Carolina State University, where he played college baseball for the Wolfpack. He began his professional career with the Everett Giants in 1986. With them, he hit .247 with eight home runs and 30 RBI in 47 games. The following year, he played for the Clinton Giants, McNamara hit .247 with five home runs and 53 RBI in 385 at bats. He slumped in 1988 while playing for the San Jose Giants, hitting only .187 with one home run and 41 RBI in 315 at-bats. He split time between the Giants and Salinas Spurs and Phoenix Firebirds in 1989, hitting a combined .232 in 95 games.\n', '

For the 1990 season, McNamara played for San Jose, Phoenix and the Shreveport Captains. Combined, he played in 87 games, collecting 60 hits in 257 at-bats for a .233 batting average. In 1991, McNamara played for Shreveport and Phoenix, hitting a combined .241 in 58 games.\n', '

Although he never managed to hit above .250 in a minor league season, he still managed to make it to the major leagues. He made his big league debut on April 9, 1992. He had only one at-bat in that game, grounding out against Ben Rivera. He hit .216 with one home run and nine RBI in his first big league season. In 74 at-bats, he struck out 25 times while walking only six times. He also spent some time with Phoenix in 1992, hitting .209 in 67 at-bats.\n', '

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