Outside The Confines: Baseball says farewell to Tim McCarver

How you remember Tim McCarver may entirely depend on what generation of baseball viewership you come from. A two-time All-Star catcher who spent most of his 21-year playing career with the Cardinals and the Phillies, McCarver was at his playing prime in the mid-to-late 1960s, though he continued to be a powerful contributor to his teams all the way through the 1970s. He was one of very few players who could say he played across four different decades.

McCarver was one of those men who could never leave baseball behind him though, and after his professional playing career ended he went on to carve a place for himself in broadcasting that began with baseball but soon saw him as a go-to sports analyst with ABC. He won three Emmy Awards for his color commentary and a winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting. McCarver was the go-to broadcaster for the World Series, performing the duty a whopping 24 times across multiple networks, 13 of those were on national television.

McCarver announced his retirement from broadcasting in 2022. He passed away from heart failure on February 16.

Here are some links about the passing of McCarver:

• Tim McCarver has passed away at the age of 81. Bill Ladson reports.
• The Baseball Hall of Fame remembers McCarver.
• Ken Rosenthal offers his personal remembrance. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Tom Verducci fondly recalls the baseball Renaissance man.
• AP offers a memorial to Carver.

Now on to the rest of today’s links.

• We missed this.

• I’m sharing this Michael Baumann article almost entirely because of its title.
• Bradford Doolittle tries to explain why your favorite team might have disappointed you this offseason.
• Could we be seeing the end of regional blackouts? Stephanie Apstein looks at what changes might be coming.
• Evan Drellich digs more into the caveats that would be necessary to see blackouts die. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• If you’re ready to feel old today Todd Zolecki looks at the literal teenager vying for a spot on the Phillies roster.
• Mark Bechtel looks at how Mark Canha found a side career as a food influencer.
• Ben Clemens offers some takeaways from the recent FanGraphs playoff odds.
• Speaking of those projected standings, Thomas Harrigan looks at how the various predictors agree (and disagree).
• This is a very big hat.

• Pitchers and catchers have reported, but Gary Sanchez is still looking for a place to call home behind home. Story by Jay Jaffe.
• Stephanie Apstein shares that Shohei Ohtani is more focused on his Opening Day start than his pending free agency.
• Sam Blum gives us a little more about everything Ohtani had to say at the start of spring training. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• ESPN is actually excited to see some of these new rules in action during spring training.
• Are we ready for “best shape of his life” season, because Mookie Betts sure is. Story by Juan Toribio.
• Normally we save Cubs-themed news for Cub Tracks, but we just couldn’t resist an early share of this major gaffe from Topps.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.