Tim McCarver, Cardinals Great and Legendary Broadcaster, Dies at 81

Tim McCarver, a two-time World Series champion and All-Star catcher for the Cardinals and later, a Ford C. Frink Award recipient as a broadcaster, died Thursday, as first announced by the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was 81. 

McCarver’s career in baseball spanned 63 years and eight decades. As a catcher, he made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 1959, playing with the team through the ’69 season. Along the way, he made two All-Star Games and was part of the 1964 and ’67 World Series champion teams.

In 1970, he jumped to the Phillies, and he would go on to play for the Expos and Red Sox, along with second stops in St. Louis and Philadelphia. He ended his career with the Phillies in 1980, making his transition to broadcasting in the city that same year. 

McCarver worked stints as a broadcaster for the Phillies, Mets, Yankees and Giants during his broadcast career. Nationally, he held roles with all four major networks—ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC—at various points in his career. He worked 23 World Series and 20 All-Star Games before retiring as a full-time broadcaster in 2013. 

McCarver would go on to work as a part-time broadcaster for the Cardinals in 2014, a post he stepped down from last April.