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James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American former catcher in Major League Baseball and a current broadcaster for FOX Sports.

Playing career

He began his playing career after being signed by the St. Louis Cardinals from Christian Brothers High School in Memphis in 1959. He hit .359 that year while splitting time between the Cardinals' minor league teams in Keokuk and Rochester and, though just 17 years old, was briefly called up to the Cardinals.

He spent the 1960, 1961, and 1962 seasons shuttling between St. Louis and the minor leagues in places like Memphis, Charleston,West Virginia and Atlanta. In 1963, he was called up to the majors for good.

McCarver's greatest playing success came with the Cardinals. In 1964, his tiebreaking home run in the 10th inning won Game 5 of the 1964 World Series. In 1966, McCarver was named to the All-Star Team, and led the National League in triples, with 13. In 1967, he finished second to teammate Orlando Cepeda for the National League Most Valuable Player award. McCarver was a member of two World Series championships during his time in St. Louis, and fostered a relationship with young pitcher Steve Carlton that would keep him in the major leagues later in his career.

After a trade to Philadelphia involving, among others, his teammate Curt Flood (which led to Flood's dramatic lawsuit challenging baseball's reserve clause) before the 1970 season, McCarver began a somewhat nomadic existence playing for the Phillies, Expos, Boston, and another brief stint with the Cardinals.

McCarver finished his career as the personal catcher for Steve Carlton for the Phillies in the late 1970s, which prompted some critics to remark that he is most known for "holding Carlton's jock strap". It was quipped that when Carlton and McCarver eventually died, they would be buried 60 feet, 6 inches apart. He retired after the 1979 season to begin a broadcasting career. McCarver briefly returned to duty in September 1980 so he could play in four different decades.

The minor league baseball stadium in Memphis was christened Tim McCarver Stadium in 1978; it was replaced by a new downtown stadium (named AutoZone Park in a naming rights arrangement) in 2000.

McCarver currently resides in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Broadcasting career

As a broadcaster, McCarver has enjoyed prominence as a color commentator on the network level. He has won three Emmy Awards for Sports Event Analyst.

He began his broadcasting career at WPHL (Channel 17) where he was paired with Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas. He then moved on to a color commentator role with NBC Sports.

He is currently paired with Joe Buck on the Fox network's MLB telecasts, after previous stints with ABC (where he teamed with Al Michaels and Jim Palmer from 1985-1989 and again from 1994-1995) and CBS (where he teamed with Jack Buck from 1990-1991 and Sean McDonough from 1992-1993).

He has also called games locally for the Phillies, Mets, Yankees, and Giants. McCarver also co-hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics with Paula Zahn for CBS. Some refer to him as Chevrolet's Tim McCarver in reference to the sponsor of his nationally syndicated, sports talk show that is broadcast on network television. The Tim McCarver Show is enjoying its seventh season and has recently been signed for five additional seasons.

Criticism

Players

McCarver has not been above controversy. During the 1992 National League Championship Series, he criticized Deion Sanders for playing both football and baseball on the same day. For his criticism, Sanders dumped a bucket of water on McCarver while he was covering the National League pennant winning Atlanta Braves' clubhouse celebration for CBS. Some observers remarked that McCarver himself worked under two contracts, his local announcing gig and his national deal, and that there were times when his broadcasting assignments conflicted. In 2004, he was criticized by Roger Clemens over the rehashing of a bat throwing incident four years earlier.

Umpires

In Game 4 of the 1997 American League Championship Series, on a wild pitch with runners dashing around the bases, when umpire Durwood Merrill gestured to where the ball was, McCarver sarcastically commented that "maybe he was trying to tell himself where the ball is!" Merrill heard about that, took offense to it, and fired back in his autobiography that he was letting the other umpires know that the situation was under control.

Stating the Obvious

A regular "Whiner Line" personality on WEEI's Big Show in Boston spoofs McCarver, with his schtick being a reference to McCarver's alleged tendency to accentuate the obvious aspects of baseball when providing color commentary to nationally broadcast games.

A prime example of McCarver stating the obvious occurred in the 1993 World Series, after Philadelphia Phillies catcher Darren Daulton caught a foul pop-up, after which McCarver said,

Watch Darren Daulton use his mitt like a glove.

Overanalyzing

McCarver has been criticized and/or accused of frequently being slow and confusing during his commentatary. Some critics argue that McCarver is quick to grab on to an idea, and slow to let it go, even when obviously wrong. This was examined on an episode of the Fox animated television series Family Guy. In a cut-away gag, McCarver was shown saying

In my view, as good as the Yankees were in the first half of this game, that's how as bad they've been now.

During the 1992 postseason (when McCarver worked for CBS), Norman Chad criticized McCarver in Sports Illustrated by saying that he's someone who "when you ask him the time, will tell you how a watch works." Chad's critique of McCarver was a reference to McCarver's supposed habit of overanalyzing. Chad went further by saying

What's the difference between Tim McCarver and appendicitis? Appendicitis is covered by most health plans.

Verbal Gaffes

McCarver has been known to make gaffes often. One of his more amusing miscues came during the 1992 National League Championship Series when he repeatedly referred to Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Tim Wakefield as "Bill Wakefield." He finally explained that Bill Wakefield was one of his old minor-league teammates, and he laughed at himself because "I forgot my own name!"

He also has been known to refer to current Cincinnati Reds and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo as "Brandon" Arroyo. Also, in a discussion of 2005 NL MVP he called Albert Pujols "Luis Pujols." During the 2006 National League Championship Series, McCarver called him Luis Pujols again and was told this by Joe Buck and said, "I did it again!" In the final game of that series, he misidentified New York Mets outfielders Endy Chavez and Cliff Floyd as Eric Chavez and "Chris" Floyd.

During the 2006 American League Division Series, McCarver referred to Detroit Tigers pitcher Nate Robertson as "Dave" Robertson; and Curtis Granderson as Curtis "Ganderman." During Game 2 of the 2006 World Series, McCarver misidentified Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Kenny Rogers as "Steve" Rogers, perhaps a mistaken reference to former MLB player Steve Rogers.

While commentating on the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, McCarver described a fastball from Brad Penny by saying

A 'Mark Wohl-berg' fastball. Catch me if you can!

McCarver possibly confused Mark Wahlberg with Leonardo DiCaprio. It was DiCaprio that was the star of the movie Catch Me If You Can, not Wahlberg. It is also possible that McCarver was referencing former Atlanta Braves pitcher Mark Wohlers, who is credited as throwing a pitch at 103 mph.

Memorable Moments

McCarver has been on hand for some of baseball's most memorable and exciting moments in the later part of the 20th century and even beyond that. Noteworthy moments that Tim McCarver was present for while broadcasting include:

• San Diego Padre Steve Garvey's dramatic game winning home run off Lee Smith of the Chicago Cubs in Game 4 of the 1984 National League Championship Series. The Padres, who came back from a 2-0 deficit in the best of five NLCS, went on the win their first ever pennant the following day.
• The infamous sixth game of the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals. That particular World Series was most notable for first base umpire Don Denkinger's blown call (which helped elevate the Royals' dramatic come from behind victory) in Game 6.
• The exhausting, 16-inning long, sixth game of the 1986 National League Championship Series (for which McCarver called with Keith Jackson for ABC) between the New York Mets and Houston Astros.
• The 1987 Minnesota Twins, who went 85-77 in the regular season (they only won 29 games on the road) beating the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games (all of them won by the home team) in the World Series.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers beating the heavily favored New York Mets, who went 10-1 against the Dodgers in the regular season, in seven games in the 1988 NLCS.
• The unforgettable 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves (both went from "worst to first" in a one year span), which is considered by many to be the greatest World Series of all time.
• Little-used Atlanta Braves player Francisco Cabrera's game-winning base hit off of Pittsburgh Pirate Stan Belinda in the bottom of the ninth of the seventh game of the 1992 NLCS.
• Joe Carter's game winning home run off of Philadelphia Phillie Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series that clinched the Toronto Blue Jays' second consecutive World Title.
• The beginning of the New York Yankees' return to power as they came back from a 2-0 deficit against the defending World Champion Atlanta Braves to win the 1996 World Series (the Yankees' first since 1978).
• Mark McGwire hitting his record breaking 62nd regular season home run in 1998.
• David Cone's perfect game for the New York Yankees against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999.
• The upstart Arizona Diamondbacks' emotional, come from behind victory against the three time defending World Champion New York Yankees in the bottom of the ninth of the 2001 World Series. Moments before the game-winning hit, he criticized the Yankees' field positioning, which proved prophetic.
• The long-suffering Anaheim Angels finally winning the World Series after defeating the San Francisco Giants (who were just eight outs away from winning their very first World Series since coming to San Francisco in Game 6) in seven games in 2002.
• The heart-stopping 2003 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox. Game 7 ended with Aaron Boone winning the pennant for the Yankees with an extra inning home run.
• The Cinderella 2003 Florida Marlins beating the New York Yankees in six games in the World Series. The Marlins won the World Series for the second time (their first being in 1997) despite making their Major League debut just ten years earlier.
• The Boston Red Sox avenging their 2003 playoff loss against the New Yankees by coming back from a 3-0 series deficit (first time in Major League Baseball, third in American professional sports) to win the pennant. The Red Sox proceeded to finally put the so-called Curse of the Bambino to an end by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 0 in the 2004 World Series.

In 2003, McCarver set a record by broadcasting his 13th World Series on national television (surpassing Curt Gowdy). The first World Series broadcast that McCarver worked on was in 1985 for ABC. McCarver was promoted to the 1985 World Series telecast shortly after ABC fired Howard Cosell in retaliation for Cosell's controversial book I Never Played the Game. Tim McCarver's previous major exposure for ABC Sports was serving as a field reporter during the 1984 National League Championship Series between the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. Since 1984, McCarver has to date, never missed commentating on the League Championship Series.

1989 World Series

Perhaps Tim McCarver's most memorable broadcast occurred on October 17, 1989 before Game 3 of the World Series at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. In the pre-game TV segment for ABC, some game footage of Oakland Athletics slugger Dave Parker hitting a double to the wall in right field to drive in José Canseco from Game 2 was being shown. Unbeknownst to the viewing audience just yet, the ground was beginning to shake at 5:04 p.m local time. The picture became staticky, a distracted McCarver, who was assessing the San Francisco Giants' chances for victory in the game, did a verbal double-take, and then McCarver's colleague Al Michaels broke in and said, "I'll tell you what; we're having an earthqu-" just as power went out. Soon, a green ABC Sports graphic replaced the normal picture and over a telephone line, Al Michaels tried to make light of the confusing and chaotic situation by jokingly saying "Well folks, that's the greatest open in the history of television - bar none!" ABC was able to restore the proper audio and video with a backup generator while McCarver, Michaels, and Jim Palmer remained calm.

External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - statistics and analysis
• TimMcCarver.com - the former player and sports analyst's website
• Shut Up Tim McCarver - site with Tim McCarver quotes

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