The National Baseball Hall of Fame reported on Thursday that Tim McCarver, a 21-year MLB veteran, and Hall of Fame broadcaster, had passed away at the age of 81.
McCarver played in Major League Baseball for 21 years, winning two World Series titles in 1964 and 1967 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
While playing from 1959 to 1980 as a catcher for the majority of his career, McCarver continued to be involved in baseball after he took off his cleats. He then transitioned into broadcasting, where he was a color commentator for Fox Sports and won three Emmy Awards.
After being signed by the Cardinals out of Memphis, Tennessee’s Christian Brothers High School, McCarver made his major league debut at the age of 17 in 1959. As he played a full season with the Cardinals in 1963, his playing career truly took off. He hit.289/.333/.383 with 23 extra-base hits.
Before joining the Philadelphia Phillies, he spent 12 years as a Cardinal and made it to two All-Star Games. McCarver spent his final six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Phillies, after hopping around in the early 1970s between them, the Montréal Expos, Boston Red Sox, and even the Cardinals.
Yes, he won three Emmy Awards as a television color commentator after his playing career, most notably for Fox Sports. Twenty All-Star Games and a then-record 23 World Series were broadcast by McCarver.
McCarver was given the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting in 2012, and he was also admitted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2016. He was admitted to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2017.