Curt Smith reflects on how the late Hall of Famer brought a cerebral edge to the game he loved.
is a senior lecturer in the Department of English at the 人妻少妇专区. His 18 books include Voices of the Game, named one of 鈥渢he 100 best baseball books ever written鈥� by Esquire magazine. His latest is an official National Baseball Hall of Fame book, Memories from the Microphone: A Century of Baseball Broadcasting. Smith was also a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush during and after his presidency.
鈥淚 think there is a natural bridge from being a catcher to talking about the view of the game,鈥� Tim McCarver once said. The former All-Star baseball player and even more celebrated broadcaster died February 16, at 81, having expressed that view better than any sports analyst of his time.
Born 52 days before Pearl Harbor, McCarver was a fine major-league catcher from 1959 to 1980鈥攁mong only seven modern-day four-decade players. He was a broadcaster for even longer, becoming a Hall of Fame television analyst from 1980 to 2013, working for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Yankees, San Francisco Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals, and almost as many networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.
The Tennessee native aired a record 23 World Series, 20 All-Star Games, 27 American or National League Championship Series (LCS), and four decades of 鈥淕ame of the Week.鈥� His vitae lists three Outstanding Sports Personality-Sports Event Analyst Emmies, seven Telly Awards, tenure on each major TV network, and six books on the sport, fusing strategy, comedy鈥攁nd honesty, above all.
McCarver鈥檚 appeal flowed from knowing that baseball is not an island; rather, it is part of culture as a whole. In one breath, the Broadway junkie could compare the batting stance of Ted Williams and Stan Musial鈥攖hen reference Stephen Sondheim鈥檚 鈥淭he Little Things You Do Together,鈥� saying, 鈥淭onight, it was the little things the Mets did together.鈥�
Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said, 鈥淢y best friend on a road trip is a book.鈥� McCarver鈥檚 could be, too. In an inning, he might talk of art, note how Harry Truman had thrown 鈥減itches left- and right-handed,鈥� and add that 鈥淵ogi Berra would call him amphibious.鈥� He was said to talk a lot, which was true. He also had a lot to say. McCarver鈥檚 mind was restless, his curiosity endless, his exuberance contagious. You almost never left him without learning something new.
McCarver joined the Cardinals in 1959 at 17 out of high school in Memphis, becoming the regular catcher in 1963. By 1980, his playing career had weaved through Montreal, Boston, again St. Louis, and Philadelphia. After retiring, he cohosted HBO鈥檚 series Race for the Pennant, joined NBC鈥檚 backup Game of the Week and Phillies radio/TV, and in 1983 left for the Mets鈥� WWOR TV. Soon, the New York Post鈥檚 Phil Mushnick wrote: 鈥淸He] has rekindled hope that sophisticated baseball has a place in New York.鈥�
In 1984, McCarver graced the syndicated Greats of the Game and the All-Star Game and League Championship Series. A year later, ABC鈥檚 Howard Cosell released a book scalding his own network. McCarver replaced him on the World Series, clicking with play-by-play man Al Michaels. 鈥淚t was like [doing] a jigsaw puzzle,鈥� said Michaels, 鈥渁nd finding all the pieces.鈥�
In 1989, Michaels, McCarver, and Jim Palmer were calling the World Series for ABC when an earthquake rocked the San Francisco area, the trio toppling to the floor. The next year, McCarver began a four-year sentence on CBS鈥檚 every-other-week Game of the Week, lack of continuity crippling ratings. In 1996, McCarver keyed Fox鈥檚 first year of coverage, the Yankees taking their first World Series since 1978 on the night after manager Joe Torre鈥檚 brother received a heart transplant. 鈥淔rank Torre is on the second day of his second heart,鈥� McCarver said. 鈥淛oe Torre is in the fifty-sixth year of his first one. Both are overflowing.鈥�
In 2001, the Yankees led the Diamondbacks, 2-1, in the World Series鈥� seventh and deciding game. Arizona loaded the bases in the ninth, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera needing two outs for another title. McCarver noted on Fox that 鈥淩ivera throws inside to left-handers, and left-handers get a lot of broken-bat hits to left, into the shallow parts of the outfield.鈥� Pitched inside, Luis Gonzalez swung and hit the ball into short left field: D-backs win, 3-2. To legendary baseball writer Roger Angell, McCarver鈥檚 became 鈥淭he Call of Calls.鈥�
By then, the Mets had axed McCarver鈥檚 $500,000 salary, with less-pricey Tom Seaver replacing him: 鈥渁 decision so small,鈥� wrote the New York Daily News, 鈥渋t could fit inside a batting glove.鈥� McCarver joined the 1999鈥�2001 Yanks, broadcast the 2002 Giants, then left exclusively for Fox. He received the Hall of Fame鈥檚 2012 Ford C. Frick Award for 鈥渂roadcast excellence,鈥� did a nonpareil 14 straight World Series with Joe Buck from 2000 to 2013, and aired the 2014鈥�2019 Cardinals on Fox Sports Midwest, coming home.
Occasionally, McCarver was asked what baseball meant to him. He said it had hurt him physically and helped cerebrally. Catching pitches behind the plate for two decades left his 鈥渓eft thumb twisted and torn. Fastballs and sliders are the jackhammers of the catcher鈥檚 life.鈥� Baseball became so much a part of his life that yearly he vacationed at season鈥檚 end. 鈥淥therwise,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 spend too much time thinking about the game.鈥�
In 2020, he opted not to work at 78, his doctor citing COVID-19 travel safety. Baseball then bid Tim McCarver an affectionate farewell, never more than in the last few days鈥攁ll of us having learned from, laughed with, and marveled at a person whose voice was the voice of a friend.
