![]() 295 with 14 home runs, finishing second for Most Valuable Player behind teammate Orlando Cepeda as the Cards won their second World Series in four years. He had his best year in 1967 when he hit. 270 or higher for five consecutive seasons and was fast enough to become the first in his position to lead the league in triples. “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!”įew catchers were strong hitters during the ’60s, but McCarver batted. When McCarver used racist language against a Black child trying to jump a fence during spring training, Gibson would remember “getting right up in McCarver’s face.” McCarver liked to tell the story of drinking an orange soda during a hot day in spring training and Gibson asking him for some, then Gibson laughing when McCarver flinched. His teammates included Gibson and outfielder Curt Flood, Black players who did not hesitate to confront or tease McCarver. ![]() McCarver attended segregated schools in Memphis and often spoke of the education he received as a newcomer in St. He was signed while still in high school by the Cardinals for $75,000, a generous offer for that time just 17 when he debuted for them in 1959 and in his early 20s when he became the starting catcher. Six feet tall and solidly built, McCarver was a policeman’s son from Memphis, who got into more than a few fights while growing up but was otherwise playing baseball and football and imitating popular broadcasters, notably the Cards’ Harry Caray. One of the hard things about television is staying contemporary and keeping it simple for the viewers.” Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting. “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. He switched to television soon after retiring in 1980 and became best known to national audiences for his 18-year partnership on Fox with play-by-play man Joe Buck. ![]() Louis in the 1960s, and the introverted Steve Carlton, McCarver’s fellow Cardinal in the ’60s and a Philadelphia Phillies teammate in the 1970s. The National Baseball Hall of Fame first reported McCarver’s death Thursday afternoon.Īmong the few players to appear in major league games during four different decades, McCarver was a two-time All Star who worked closely with two future Hall of Fame pitchers: The tempestuous Bob Gibson, whom McCarver caught for St. LOUIS ( KTVI) – Longtime s catcher and MLB broadcaster Tim McCarver has died at the age of 81. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |