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COACH: Where would you say your baseball career really began - when you first started playing baseball seriously? McCARVER: Actually football was always my first love. I played right end in high school and was pretty much set on going to the University of Tennessee, which Bob Neyland, a family acquaintance, had coached into a national power from 1926 to 1952 Another good reason for going there was that I wanted to stay close to home (Memphis, TN). But I had a problem, I was a better baseball player! And when the St. Louis Cardinals offered me a bonus to sign with them, I didn't hesitate. In those days, (1952-1957), a player who signed for a bonus of $4,000 or more lo. had to be kept on the team's major league roster. The rule was supposed to discourage teams from luring young, inexperienced players with big bonus money, then have to sit them on the bench. For a player to gain experience in the majors, he first had to pass through waivers, a risky move for a club that had just invested big money for a hot prospect. Anyone could then pick him up inexpensively All of this meant that the Cardinals had to keep me around. I didn't mind at all. Contact was the aspect I liked most about football, and it was what turned me on to catching. It was the one position in baseball that was most like football. I didn't go around beating my head against a wall, but I enjoyed the contact on all the plays at the plate. COACH: You have an awesome reputation as a baseball thinker. Who were the major forces in your cerebral approach to the game? What coaches and managers impressed you the most? McCARVER: Eddie Stanky, George Kissell, and Joe Schultz were major influences, but in different ways. Joe was my minor league manager for three years. He was also the main character in Jim Bouton's Ball Four. Eddie made you think about how to play the game, and when you were thinking about how to play the game, you were unwittingly thinking about how to talk and think the game. They both went on to manage at the big league level. George Kissell never did. In fact, he never even played in the major leagues. But I have never met anyone in baseball who had more of a mentor's mentality. George, who is now 82, is still going strong. He remains one of baseball's real treasures, much like Don Zimmer. George had a huge influence on a lot of people. I dedicated one of my books, Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans, to Stanky, Kissell and, Schultz. George spans many generations. When Earl Weaver says that George Kissell had the greatest impact on his baseball life, you have to take that seriously. Look at Earl's success, coupled with mine, and then listen to people like Keith Hernandez, Andy Van Slyke, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, and Joe Torre sing his praises, you realize the tremendous impact he had on people's lives. Torre said that George had more influence on his managerial career than anyone in baseball. COACH: As a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, you had the experience of catching two of the greatest pitchers in modern baseball - Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton. How does a catcher adjust to such awesome talent? Were they harder or easier to handle than the every-day pitcher? McCARVER: Adjustment is the proper word. Except for a few minor tweaks, Carlton was very easy to catch. His fastball, which was featherlight, was usually in the right spot. His slider presented a different kind of problem. It often went down and in to right-handed batters and caused a lot of checked swings, which meant that you had to go down into the dirt for a lot of balls. Gibson was a different story. Perhaps a young Mike Torrez's fastball came as close to exploding in the strike zone the way Gibson's did. His fastball did a lot of different things because of its late action. Because of that, he just tore my hand up. I think of him everyday when I look at my hyperextended thumb, which I can press back almost parallel to the ground. Compared to your everyday pitcher, Carlton was easy to catch. But Gibson was by far the most difficult because he was so physical. Bob was unconventional but also very, very intelligent. Throwing high fastballs in bunting situations used to be unconventional, until Bob discovered that right-handed hitters gave up on his slider, which they would always foul off. The slider became his staple pitch in bunting situations. He opened my eyes in terms of finding ways to adjust during the course of a ballgame and a season. Bob expected and demanded a supreme effort from every player all the time. He expected total concentration and he always got it. I was recently talking to Ron Fairly, the Mariners' announcer. Ron, a former Cardinal and Dodger, played with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. He said that Gibson was the one guy you'd want to be with in a foxhole in no-man's land. (I agreed with him.) COACH: How did you get interested in broadcasting? Where did you start and what kind of preparation did you do? Who were the broadcasters you looked up to when you were in baseball and did you consciously model your approach after anyone? MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS McCARVER: I prepared for life after baseball by checking out the careers of many players after retirement. Being released twice in the span of a year opened my eyes. The first time I was shocked - after I got over the emotion I asked myself: "This is a practical situation, what am I going to do with the rest of my life?" I felt broadcasting would interest me and I knew that I'd try it, but I didn't know if it was going to work. In 1977, the Toronto Blue Jays offered me a four-year broadcasting contract to work with Tom Cheeks. When the Phillies got wind of this, they offered me a one-year playing contract followed by a two-year broadcasting deal with the team's cable affiliate, which was in its infancy at the time. So, at the age of 36, I signed a one-year playing contract, then a two-year television contract and began broadcasting Phillies games in 1980. I was greatly influenced by Harry Caray, as was everyone else who listened to him. His style was unique, but at no time - and I admired a lot of broadcasters, including Al Michaels and Vin Scully - did I try to emulate anyone. I had to be myself and I knew that I'd have to work hard. Marquee value was the biggest reason former players got television and radio jobs in the '80s. And my marquee value was not as great as Tom Seaver's, Reggie Jackson's or Jim Palmer's. They all worked post-season games, but I couldn't march with those guys from a playing standpoint. And so I worked a little harder and realized that it would be my opinions that would impact my broadcasting career. I wasn't going to borrow from anyone else's. So far it has served me well. COACH: Many of the baseball fans in New York believe that you and Ralph Kiner made the most informative and entertaining baseball team in broadcasting. Have you changed your approach any since you moved into the national spotlight? McCARVER: I don't think so. Me and my broadcasting partner at Fox, Joe Buck, talk about that often. I have the greatest respect in the world for Joe. He is not going to be one of the great voices and great announcers in the game's history - he already is! We discuss how baseball from a broadcasting standpoint has such a local flavor to it, much more than football or basketball. Your instincts tell you to be different for a national audience than you are for your local broadcast, but you don't have to be. Perfecting what you bring to a local broadcast is the key. That's where Joe and I have improved over our four years working together. We realized that knowing your partner very well goes a long way to perfecting a local broadcast. Being loose, accurate, and opinionated makes for an interesting telecast. Broadcasting felt natural from the first day. I was comfortable talking about the game's intricacies and I've worked very hard at it. COACH: Do you get the feeling that baseball has changed in any marked degree since you played it in the '50s and '60s? McCARVER: It has changed an awful lot, starting with the designated hitter, which has altered the way the game is played in the American League - though I'm not sure it has changed for the better. Lowering the mound after the 1968 season took a heavy toll on pitchers, which we are witnessing today. All the 9-8 and 15-10 games are having a negative effect on the game. I think that baseball should wake up to what is happening to it. While fans like high-scoring games that are played well, I don't think they like blowouts or continuous double-digit scores. Baseball wasn't meant to be played like that on a consistent basis. It's a game of strategy and the DH takes a lot of that out of the game. COACH: What do you believe accounts for the awesome rise in power hitting? Are the players simply bigger and stronger? Is it the mediocrity of the pitching? Or is it the rabbit in the baseball? McCARVER: It's a combination of things. Everybody wants to blame only expansion pitching, the tightly wrapped ball, or the players lifting weights. It's a combination of inferior pitching and pitchers not being allowed to throw inside. And give the hitters credit. How many McGwires were playing in the '40s, '50s and '60s? There was Frank Howard. Now Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are the sculpted bodies we are used to seeing. COACH: Do you believe that power baseball has taken away from the strategic side of the game? Do you believe that managers like John McGraw, Paul Richards, Leo Durocher, and Bill McKechnie are turning over in their graves watching the McGwires, Sosas, and Griffeys taking over the game? McCARVER: I'm not sure they'd turn over in their graves. That's not to say that Mark or Sammy Sosa would not accomplish what they've accomplished if the mound were 15 inches high or the quality of pitching was as good as it was in the '60s. But it would have been much more difficult. Pitching inside is another way the game has changed. Knocking guys away from the plate and reestablishing the outside part of the plate used to be part of the game. Now a fight occurs every time a pitch is thrown inside. I don't understand it. (Ed. note: Fights occur when the batter is hit with the pitch, not because it is "inside.") COACH: What kind of baseball game do you prefer as a former player, lifelong fan and announcer? McCARVER: The enjoyment comes from watching the quality of play on the field and appreciating the skill level of the modern athletes. I enjoy any type of game that is played well whether it's 8-7 or one where the real save for a reliever comes in the middle innings. The Yankees had a game like that on August 8 versus Seattle. Faced with a one-out, basesloaded situation in the seventh inning, reliever Dan Naulty recorded the game's key outs. How could that have been a tight ball game with the Yankees leading 7-2 in a game they eventually won 9-3? It would have been had Naulty not done the job in the seventh inning. Nobody got a save, but technically and even more important than the guys who get saves, were the outs Naulty recorded in the middle innings. COACH: What kind of pursuits do you have outside the game? Are you interested in the theater? Music? Ballet? Art? Anything other than sports? McCARVER: Civil war and military books interest me. I also enjoy wine and good restaurants. I love places that are new and exciting. COACH: Who were your favorite ballplayers and managers when you were growing up? McCARVER: Baseball was never a dream come true for me, it was something I had to do. I had an inner drive to succeed. But I never felt players were bigger than life. Admiring players from afar, then meeting them in person and realizing they are truly authentic individuals, was a lot of fun. Stan Musial and Kenny Boyer come to mind as players who lived up to all my expectations. Willie Mays is also a great example. Catching behind him while he was hitting was such a thrill. Watching the power he exhibited from two feet away as a catcher was a tremendous experience. About Catching Contact was the aspect I liked most about football, and it was what turned me on to catching. It was the one position in baseball that was most like football... I enjoyed the contact on all the plays at the plate. The Tim of Your Life! Anyone interested in listening to Tim McCarver "talk baseball" can do so by dropping into the nearest book store for a copy of his latest book, The Perfect Season. It is prime McCarver-a warm and insightful look into the 35 players (3 deceased), two announcers (1 deceased), I team, and all the post-season playoffs that made 1998 "baseball's greatest year." Imagine a season with an incredible home-run duel, a perfect game, a team with a record number of victories, a rookie pitcher striking out 20 batters, and a lot of other so forths and so ons. McCarver clears the bases with his unerring eye and ineffable charm. About the DH "While fans like high-scoring games that are played well, I don't think they like blowouts... Baseball wasn't meant to be played like that on a consistent basis. It's a game of strategy and the DH takes a lot of that out of the game."
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