McCarver was one of the country's most recognized, incisive and talkative television commentators for decades.
Tim McCarver, the All-Star catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster who during 60 years in baseball won two World Series titles with the St. Louis Cardinals and had a long run as one of the country's most recognized, incisive and talkative television commentators, died Thursday. He was 81.
"I think there is a natural bridge from being a catcher to talking about the view of the game and the view of the other players," McCarver told the Hall in 2012, the year he and Buck were given the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting. "It is translating that for the viewers. One of the hard things about television is staying contemporary and keeping it simple for the viewers.
"It was probably Gibby more than any other Black man who helped me to overcome whatever latent prejudices I may have had," McCarver wrote in his 1987 memoir "Oh, Baby, I Love It!" "Behind every successful pitcher, there has to be a very smart catcher, and Tim McCarver is that man," Carlton said during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1994. "Timmy forced me pitch inside. Early in my career I was reluctant to pitch inside. Timmy had a way to remedy this. He used to set up behind the hitter. There was just the umpire there; I couldn't see him , so I was forced to pitch inside.
Younger baseball fans first knew him from his work in the broadcast booth, whether local games for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, as Jack Buck's partner on CBS or with son Joe Buck for Fox from 1996-2013.
Many found McCarver informative and entertaining. Others thought him infuriating. McCarver did not cut himself short whether explaining baseball strategy or taking on someone's performance on the field. "When you ask him the time, will tell you how a watch works," Sports Illustrated's Norm Chad wrote of him in 1992.
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