Lest we forget: Tim McCarver

I have a soft spot for players with extra longevity. Tim McCarver enjoyed a 21-year career. And while others have been around longer, he managed to do it over four decades, so extra points.

Sadly, he passed away today at the age of 81.

McCarver began his career as a 17-year-old (!) with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1957. I was surprised to learn he was only a two-time All-Star; he also finished second in the NL MVP vote in 1967.

He was traded to the Phillies with Curt Flood, Byron Browne, and Joe Hoerner for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas after the 1969 season. As we all know, Flood refused to report to his new team and opened the door for the legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court and ultimately ushered in the era of free agency.

McCarver also played for the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox before ending with the Phillies. He was the backstop for two iconic Hall of Fame pitchers: Bob Gibson with the Cards and Steve Carlton with the Phillies. There are legendary stories in most books about the Cardinals in the early to mid-sixties about how McCarver, who was born and raised in the deep South, got to know and respect Gibson.

After hanging up his spikes, McCarver had a long second act as a broadcaster for the Mets and other outlets. Not everyone appreciated his on-air persona. He could be a bit know-it-all and outspoken. My favorite expression he used which I use when appropriate: “You think long, you think wrong.”

He was busy with the pen as well, publishing Oh Baby, I Love It!: Baseball Summers, Hot Pennant Races, Grand Salamis, Jellylegs, El Swervos, Dingers and Dunkers, Etc., Etc., Etc., written with Ray Robinson, in 1987. In 1998, he came out with Tim McCarver’s Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans: Understanding and Interpreting the Game So You Can Watch It Like a Pro with Danny Peary, with whom he also wrote Tim McCarver’s Diamond Gems: Favorite Stories from the Legends of the Game and The Perfect Season: Why 1998 Was Baseball’s Greatest Year in 1999. In 2003, it was Few and Chosen Cardinals: Defining Cardinal Greatness Across the Eras, with Phil Pepe.

From McCarver’s obit in The New York Times, written by Bruce Weber: “His books, written with co-authors, consisted largely of tales from the locker room and the diamond and instructions to fans about how to watch a ballgame.

Also:

• From the Associated Press
• From the New York Post
• From the Washington Post
• From the St. Louis Post Dispatch
• As of this posting the Philadelphia Inquirer used the AP story