Tim McCarver

[Reaper]

Yep.

[A_B]

he always seemed more Philly to me because that's when I was collecting cards and would still run across some from the late 70s, but looking at the BRef, I didn't realize he was with the cardinals so long.

ETA: he led the league in triples as a catcher one season!

[govmentchedda]

Wonder if Deion's ready to revive the ice bucket challenge?

[A_B]

Did fire joe morgan hate him too?

[Reaper]

he always seemed more Philly to me because that's when I was collecting cards and would still run across some from the late 70s, but looking at the BRef, I didn't realize he was with the cardinals so long.

ETA: he led the league in triples as a catcher one season!

McCarver was practically Steve Carlton's personal catcher. He caught more starts by Lefty than any other catcher, by a lot. But people forget that Carlton was a 7-year vet and 3-time all star with the Cards before he was traded to Philly for his 15-year stint.

[A_B]

he always seemed more Philly to me because that's when I was collecting cards and would still run across some from the late 70s, but looking at the BRef, I didn't realize he was with the cardinals so long.

ETA: he led the league in triples as a catcher one season!

McCarver was practically Steve Carlton's personal catcher. He caught more starts by Lefty than any other catcher, by a lot. But people forget that Carlton was a 7-year vet and 3-time all star with the Cards before he was traded to Philly for his 15-year stint.

Indeed I forgot, if I ever knew it.

[Giff]

Someone tweeted it, but his call right before the series-winning hit in 2001 was early-Romoesque.

[L-Jam3]

His joke was that he was so close to Carlton that when they die they'll be buried 60 feet 6 inches from each other.

[Johnnie]

The thing I know this guy for the most was how hated he was online once social media was prevalent.

And I seem to remember that same sentiment being in here too.

[MaxWebster]

yeah he became fairly insufferable... but i do have to admit that way back when he and Ralph Kiner doing Mets games on WOR - that was good television. well, maybe not "good" but it was entertaining!

either way you remember him, he was one of *those* baseball voices for a long time.

[The Sybian]

yeah he became fairly insufferable... but i do have to admit that way back when he and Ralph Kiner doing Mets games on WOR - that was good television. well, maybe not "good" but it was entertaining!

either way you remember him, he was one of *those* baseball voices for a long time.

I loved McCarver as a kid. I used to watch a lot of Mets games and Tim was the voice of summer for me. I loved the old traditions of the game, and Tim told so many stories, explained where terms came from. Loved Kiner, too, but it was a damn shame they kept him on the air after he had a stroke and Bell's Palsy. It was so sad and painful listening to him try to speak.

Speaking of Kiner, I looked him up because I couldn't remember when he died. Google suggested "Elizabeth Taylor" in the search box, so I was surprised to see they dated! Never would have guessed that one. The picture I saw of them together, Taylor was 17!!! while Kiner was 27. Different time, I guess?

[MaxWebster]

ha! now that's some trivia right there (Kiner and Taylor).

yeah "voice of summer" is a good way to describe it/him for me as well as an early teen; for a few years in the early-mid 80s we got WOR on cable out in western new york; loved those broadcasts even if i didn't like the Mets (got to see a lot of those first 2 legendary Gooden seasons too)

yeah he became fairly insufferable... but i do have to admit that way back when he and Ralph Kiner doing Mets games on WOR - that was good television. well, maybe not "good" but it was entertaining!

either way you remember him, he was one of *those* baseball voices for a long time.

I loved McCarver as a kid. I used to watch a lot of Mets games and Tim was the voice of summer for me. I loved the old traditions of the game, and Tim told so many stories, explained where terms came from. Loved Kiner, too, but it was a damn shame they kept him on the air after he had a stroke and Bell's Palsy. It was so sad and painful listening to him try to speak.

Speaking of Kiner, I looked him up because I couldn't remember when he died. Google suggested "Elizabeth Taylor" in the search box, so I was surprised to see they dated! Never would have guessed that one. The picture I saw of them together, Taylor was 17!!! while Kiner was 27. Different time, I guess?

[mister d]

I'm sure a lot of this is nostalgia and not being cynical yet, but Kiner+McCarver and Rizzuto+White was a real golden era of NY baseball announcing teams.

[sancarlos]

I'm sure a lot of this is nostalgia and not being cynical yet, but Kiner+McCarver and Rizzuto+White was a real golden era of NY baseball announcing teams.

Kind of a threadjack, but since you mentioned Bill White - coincidentally, I spoke to his daughter today - (she’s a friend from college). She said Bill White is in really bad health and requires round-the-clock care, which, sadly, is super-expensive.

[Reaper]

I'm sure a lot of this is nostalgia and not being cynical yet, but Kiner+McCarver and Rizzuto+White was a real golden era of NY baseball announcing teams.

Kind of a threadjack, but since you mentioned Bill White - coincidentally, I spoke to his daughter today - (she’s a friend from college). She said Bill White is in really bad health and requires round-the-clock care, which, sadly, is super-expensive.

Yep, as we get older, so do they, and eventually all pass. He was the last surviving member from this photo, when McCarver started his broadcasting career from 1980-1982.



Did he do games with Jon Miller in his lone Giants season in 2002?

[sancarlos]

Did he do games with Jon Miller in his lone Giants season in 2002?

I don’t remember, but the Giants’ announcers often trade off between radio and tv halfway through the game, and since Miller and McCarver both did play-by-play, they might or might not have worked together. (Although Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow always work together, so maybe they did.)

[EnochRoot]

I'm sure a lot of this is nostalgia and not being cynical yet, but Kiner+McCarver and Rizzuto+White was a real golden era of NY baseball announcing teams.

Rizzuto left by the 7th inning though. What was that team? Rizzuto, White and then Frank Messer would come on to close after Rizzuto left?

[sancarlos]

I think I already posted this a long time ago, but Bill White himself told me a story of once when he was doing a spring training game with Rizzuto. Bill White had to leave for a bit to go to the restroom. When he came back and looked at Rizzuto’s score book, for a couple batters in a row he wrote WW. White asked him what WW meant, and Rizzuto said, “that means, ‘wasn’t watching’.”

[A_B]

Am I missing something where you have to write Bill white” in its entirety?

[mister d]

Missing something besides the last sentence of his post?

[sancarlos]

Am I missing something where you have to write Bill white” in its entirety?

Yeah I don’t know why I did that

[A_B]

4/5 though!

[MaxWebster]

totally - we also got WPIX as part of early cable (late 70s) and as a Red Sox fan / little kid i "hated" Rizzuto ... well, i was supposed to, but goddamn - he was a blast. one of my earliest moral conflicts...not supposed to like anything Yankees related, but i'm always laughing... the ultimate homer but somehow pulled it off in a way that was endearing.

and/but Bill White was tremendous, I always enjoyed listening to him. Sorry to hear he's in failing health

I'm sure a lot of this is nostalgia and not being cynical yet, but Kiner+McCarver and Rizzuto+White was a real golden era of NY baseball announcing teams.

[EnochRoot]

Bill White was on some of those mid 60s Cardinal teams with McCarver, Gibson, Flood et al.

He had a quick wit and brought some knowledge in a folksy way. Of course, that might've been because he was conversing with Phil Rizzuto most nights...