RIP Tim McCarver

Bill February 18, 2023 2 Comments

TTM Stats

• Sent: 11/7/2021 | Received: 1/17/2023 | 70 Days
• ‘1977 Topps, ’01 Topps Archives
• Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)

The Story of the Autograph

Tim McCarver was a catcher in the major leagues from 1959 to 1980. He played in 21 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (twice), Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies (twice).

McCarver was born and raised in Tennessee. The Cardinals signed him out of high school as a amateur free agent on June 8, 1959. He made his major league debut just a few months later as a seventeen year old on September 10, 1959. He would make it back to the majors in short stints through the 1961 season and then was in the minors for the 1962 season. He became a starter in the 1963 season and was up for good.

As a Cardinal he would be a two-time All-Star in the 1966 and 1967 seasons. He even received MVP votes in the 1967 season and finished second in that race. He was also with them for two successful runs to championships in 1964 and 1967. Another run in 1968 ended with a loss to the Tigers. In 1969 he was traded to the Phillies with Curt Flood, Byron Browne, Joe Hoerner for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas. Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies and the Cardinals instead sent Willie Montanez and Jim Browning to the Philadelphia to complete the trade.

In the mid 70’s he bounced around a lot including going back to the Cardinals for a stint and then back to the Phillies where he would play out the last several years of his career. That included three consecutive NLCS runs from 1976 to 1978. Her retired in 1979 to start a broadcasting career but returned in September of 1980 and became one of 31 players to play in four decades.

McCarver had a long broadcasting career, starting locally with the Phillies. He would work as a Mets broadcaster for a long time (from 1983 to 1998) and then also with the Yankees and Giants. He worked national broadcasts for NBC starting in the 80s and then was paired with Joe Buck on Fox starting in 1996 and going through 2013.

He passed away on February 16, 2023

The Score on Tim McCarver – 6.5

I had held off sending to Tim because I really never had many cards of his. I wish that I had found a Cardinals card for him because of how much success he had in St. Louis. I’d also rather not have to send a newer card for a player on vintage cards but that’s how it worked out. It’s always a shame to lose a baseball lifer like Tim.

Thanks Mr. McCarver, and my best to your family in dealing with this loss.

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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.