James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball catcher….who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Expos and the Boston Red Sox between 1959 and 1980….during which he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game in 1966 and 1967….and was the starting catcher for the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 and 1967. In 1964, his tie-breaking home run in the 10th inning won Game 5 of the World Series….as seen in this video herewith. In 1966, McCarver was named to the All-Star Team….and scored the winning run in the 10th inning of that game….who then became the first catcher to lead the National League in triples, with 13. In 1967, he finished second to teammate Orlando Cepeda for the National League Most Valuable Player award….as McCarver was a member of two World Series championships during his time in St. Louis. He was the favorite catcher of the notoriously temperamental Bob Gibson….and fostered a relationship with young pitcher Steve Carlton that would keep him in the major leagues later in his career. In 1968, he was the Cardinals catcher as they took the NL pennant….but lost to the Detroit Tigers in a seven-game World Series….after being up 3 games to 1….which made the Tigers being only one of 6 MLB teams to accomplish that feat.
As a broadcaster, McCarver has enjoyed prominence as a color commentator on the network level…..where he has won three Emmy Awards for Sports Event Analyst. Tim McCarver has been in the broadcast booth behind the mike from 1980 to 2018….and was the recipient of the 2012 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting.
