Happy Birthday to the late and great Tim McCarver. While most fans may remember him for all the years as a color commentator for Fox Sports, calling 23 World Series and 20 All-Star games. Nonetheless, long before his broadcasting days, he spent many years as a Catcher, primarily for the St Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Red Sox, and the Montreal Expos. While McCarver didn’t have a Hall of Fame-worthy career, McCarver had a noteworthy career over parts of 21 seasons.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1959-61; 63-80):

.271 BA 1,501 HITS 97 HR 645 RBI 590 RUNS .337 OBP

  • 2x All-Star
  • 2x World Series Champion (1964 & 1967)

Considering McCarver was playing the most brutal position, Catcher, McCarver was a good hitter. As a Left-Handed Hitter early in his career with the Cardinals, McCarver was a good hitter for the bottom lineup. He also had a good eye at the plate; throughout his career at the plate, he drew more Walks (548) than Strikeouts (422). As a 24-year-old, he appeared in the 1964 World Series as the Catcher for all seven games. At the plate, he went (11 for 23), and drove in 5 Runs. His best season came in 1967, when he finished runner-up in the NL MVP voting, losing to teammate Orlando Cepeda. McCarvers’ offensive numbers over the span of 138 games…

.295 BA 139 HITS 14 HR 69 RBI .369 OBP 68 RUNS 

McCarver had great speed for a Catcher. In a game against the Mets in June of 1963, he hit his first career grand slam, a rare inside-the-park grand slam. In 1966, he led the majors with 13 Triples. 

As a Catcher, McCarver was excellent when it came to his defense, calling a game, and having a good rapport with the pitchers. In 1967, the reason he received love on the MVP ballot was the fact he led all Catchers in Assists and Fielding Percentage. During their years as teammates in St. Louis and Philadelphia, Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton grew so fond of him that he always had him as his Catcher for all his starts. McCarver also caught 121 Shutouts in his career, ranks 9th all-time.

Even as he aged, his bat was still good enough to be used as a Pinch Hitter late in games, and being a great defensive catcher as he aged allowed him to play a long time in the majors. Catchers are involved in just about every aspect of the game, which is why a lot of them end up becoming coaches and managers. Now, McCarver had interest in terms of calling the game on TV. He was so good at it that not only was he able to work in TV for multiple decades, he took home the Emmy Award three times for Sports Event Analyst. Not everyone can make the Hall of Fame, but just because McCarver has no plaque doesn’t mean his Legacy and Accomplishments go away. 

References: 

  1. Tim McCarver via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_McCarver#
  2. Williams, Dave. Tim McCarver Biography via SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/tim-mccarver/
  3. Tim McCarver Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mccarti01.shtml