HOFer McCarver dies
Tim McCarver, a stalwart catcher for 21 seasons in the major leagues before becoming a Hall of Fame broadcaster, has died at the age of 81.
According to a press release from the Hall of Fame, McCarver died of heart failure Thursday morning in his hometown of Memphis.
McCarver played 12 seasons with the Cardinals, teaming up with ace Bob Gibson to form the heart and soul of two World Series championship squads in 1964 and 1967. A two-time all-star in St. Louis, he set career highs with a .295 average, 14 home runs and 69 RBI in 1967, finishing second to teammate Orlando Cepeda in the NL MVP voting.
Two years later, he was part of a blockbuster trade to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he would spend nine more seasons. McCarver also played for the Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos.
After his playing career ended in 1980, McCarver embarked on a second career, making an even greater impact on the game as a broadcaster.
He made his first national television appearance in 1980 on NBC’s Game of the Week, which led to a job broadcasting Phillies games from 1980-82, followed by stints with the New York Mets from 198398, New York Yankees in 1999, San Francisco Giants in 2002 and the Cardinals from 2014-19.
Also during that time, he became a regular on national broadcasts.
Joining Fox as its No. 1 baseball analyst in 1996, McCarver worked 23 World Series and 20 All-Star Games before stepping down after the 2013 season.
NASCAR
Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson turned Daytona 500 qualifying into another Hendrick Motorsports romp Wednesday night.
Bowman posted the top speed in his No. 48 Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway and won his third career pole for the race. He’ll be joined by Larson in the No. 5 Chevrolet on the front row for NASCAR’s season opener.
Jimmie Johnson made a triumphant return to NASCAR on Wednesday night and qualified for the Daytona 500, as the seven-time champion heads into his first Cup race since 2020.
The final two open spots and the starting order were settled in Thursday night’s duel qualifying races. Conor Daly, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith vied for the two open spots.
NBA
The Boston Celtics named Joe Mazzulla their full-time head coach Thursday, removing the interim tag he has held throughout the season after stepping in for Ime Udoka.
Udoka was initially given a yearlong suspension before training camp for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the organization. The 34-year-old Mazzulla, a assistant under Udoka last season, will now replace his former boss, who will not return. Mazzulla is the NBA’s youngest head coach.
Terms of his new deal were not immediately available.
Cavs, Love discuss buyout: Five-time all-star Kevin Love has discussed the possibility of a contract buyout with the Cavs after being dropped from their rotation, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Love is in the final year of a $120 million, fouryear extension he signed in 2018.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
A source confirmed Thursday that Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell expects to hire Nate Letton as UW’s tight ends coach.
Letton replaces Gino Guidugli, who is leaving UW to become the quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame.
Letton coached the tight ends at Cincinnati last season. He was an offensive graduate assistant with the Bearcats in 2020 and 2021.
SKIING
American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom at the world championships Thursday in Meribel, France.
Shiffrin overcame a mistake near the end of the race to hold on to her first-run lead to beat Italian skier Federica Brignone by 0.12 seconds. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway finished 0.22 seconds behind and took bronze.