MLB All-Star catcher, Hall of Fame broadcaster Tim McCarver dies

The baseball Hall of Fame has announced the death of former catcher and broadcaster Tim McCarver.

McCarver was 81.

The Associated Press reported that he died Thursday morning in Memphis, Tennessee, with family in attendance.

The Hall of Fame remembers 2012 Frick Award winner Tim McCarver, who passed away on Thursday.https://t.co/Np1cTyEJbV pic.twitter.com/ydNjOJqrBY
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) February 16, 2023

McCarver won two World Series titles with the St. Louis Cardinals and played in four different decades.

A Hall of Famer himself for his broadcasting career, McCarver caught for two Hall of Fame pitchers — Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton.

McCarver retired in 1980 and transitioned to the press box where he worked for 18 years with play-by-play man Joe Buck, the AP reported.

“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 said when he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award in 2012, according to the Hall of Fame. “It is translating that for the viewers.”

McCarver was born in Memphis on Oct. 16, 1941, and was a star football and baseball player in high school. He signed with the Cardinals as soon as he was out of school and hit .360 for Class D Keokuk of the Midwest League in 1959. Eventually, he was promoted to Triple-A Rochester and then the Cardinals.

He frequently fluctuated between minor and major league teams, but finally signed with the Cardinals full-time on June 15, 1963, when Gene Oliver was traded to the Atlanta Braves.

He caught every inning of every game of the World Series against the Yankees in 1964, helping the Cardinals win the pennant that year, according to Baseball-reference.com and the Hall of Fame.

The Cardinals won the pennant in 1967 and were the National League champions in 1968.

McCarver was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969 as a backup catcher. He then returned to the Cardinals before going to the Boston Red Sox before going back to the Phillies until the end of his on-the-field career.