Hall of Famer Mccarver dies at 81
NEW YORK — Tim Mccarver, the All-star catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster who during 60 years in baseball won two World Series titles with the St. Louis Cardinals and had a long run as the one of the country’s most recognized, incisive and talkative television commentators, died Thursday. He was 81.
Mccarver’s death was announced by baseball’s Hall of Fame, which said he died Thursday morning due to heart failure in Memphis, Tenn., where he was with his family.
Among the few players to appear in major league games during four decades, Mccarver was a two-time All-star who worked closely with two future Hall of Fame pitchers: the tempestuous Bob Gibson, whom Mccarver caught for St. Louis in the 1960s, and the introverted Steve Carlton, Mccarver’s fellow Cardinal in the ’60s and a Philadelphia Phillies teammate in the 1970s.
He switched to television soon after retiring in 1980 and called 24 World Series for ABC, CBS and Fox, a record for a baseball analyst on television.
“I think there is a natural
bridge from being a catcher to talking about the view of the game and the view of the other players,” Mccarver told the Hall in 2012, the year he and Joe Buck were given the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting. “It is translating that for the viewers. One of the hard things about television is staying contemporary and keeping it simple for the viewers.”
Mccarver became best known to national audiences for his 18-year partnership on Fox with playby-play man Buck. Mccarver moved to Fox in 1996 when it began televising baseball and called his final
World Series in 2013.
Mets: Carlos Beltrán is joining the Mets as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler, his first work with a team since he lost his job as New York’s manager for his role in the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal. Beltrán was hired on Nov. 1, 2019, to replace Mickey Callaway as Mets manager. The Mets announced Beltrán’s departure the following Jan. 16 without his managing a game. Beltrán’s departure was announced three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in Major League Baseball’s report that concluded the team broke rules by using electronics to steal signs en route to the 2017 World Series title. Beltrán spent last season as an analyst on the New York Yankees’ YES Network.
Rangers: Newly acquired Texas ace Jacob degrom said Thursday he is already further ahead than normal this spring training, even after being held out of the team’s first official workout. The Rangers kept degrom off the field a day earlier after the right-hander reported feeling tightness in his left side from throwing before he got to Arizona. His past two seasons with the New York Mets were shortened significantly by injuries. “Obviously what I’ve been through the last couple of years, I’ve dealt with some things, and this is very minor,” degrom said. “Left side was a little tight, I mentioned that to them . ... They just said, let’s take a couple of days off and knock this all the way out and then resume.” The twotime NL Cy Young Award winner, who signed a $185 million, fiveyear contract in December, said he threw off the mound “close to six times” before reporting to camp.
Angels: Manager Phil Nevin said two-way star Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound for the March 30 opener at Oakland . ... Lefthander Matt Moore and Los Angeles agreed Thursday to a $7.55 million, one-year contract.
Braves: Brandon Gaudin, the former voice of Georgia Tech broadcasts, was selected the new play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves on Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast.
Dodgers: Outfielder David Peralta finalized a $6.5 million, one-year contract on Thursday with Los Angeles, which reached one-year deals with pitchers Jimmy Nelson for $1.2 million and Alex Reyes for $1.1 million.
Mariners: Seattle outfielder Taylor Trammell will have surgery on his broken right hand and is expected to need six to seven weeks to recover.
Padres: Right-hander Michael Wacha and San Diego finalized a contract Thursday that guarantees $26 million over four seasons and could be worth $39 million over three years.
Phillies: Right-handed reliever Seranthony Domínguez and Philadelphia agreed to a $7.25 million, two-year contract on Thursday that avoided salary arbitration.
Note: Japan’s Orix Buffaloes have announced the signing of Marwin Gonzalez, who played last season with the Yankees.