|
OUT OF LEFT FIELD |
 |
|
The Listening is Easy
With Tim McCarver
of TheColumnists.com
Tim McCarver exudes good cheer. That is why the national baseball telecasts on Fox each Saturday are such a pleasurable experience over and above whether a good or dull game is in progress.
McCarver, 66, is a keen analyst, a storyteller and a conscientious reporter. He is also a class guy ever ready to give credit, and to appreciate apt comments or witticisms by his play-by-play partners, Joe Buck most of the time, Kenny Albert when Buck is elsewhere.
McCarver the analyst is a teacher. Many New Yorkers attest they were greatly educated about baseball by McCarver when he worked as the Mets TV analyst in the 15 years ending in 1998. In a way he was too good, because his heady criticisms finally offended Mets management and he was let go, free to become a network voice.
I monitored McCarver on the telecast of a New York Mets 4-2 victory over the Phillies in Philadelphia last month.
He provided these informational tidbits:
* He said, “The best scouting report is knowing your own pitchers.”
* He pointed out that Mets pitcher Oliver Perez had to guard against opening his shoulders when he threw because he would be throwing balls rather than strikes. He showed Mets catcher Brian Schneider positioning himself on the inside of a right-hand batter during warm-ups to help Perez pitch inside.
* About young hitters struggling in the major leagues: “They see fewer balls down the middle of the plate in the majors.”
* He said catchers can handle curve balls in the dirt because they expect that. Fast balls in the dirt are harder because they don’t expect that.
* He started a narrative about Phils manager Charlie Manuel by giving credit to an excellent piece about Manuel by Philadelphia News reporter Paul Hagen. He made the point that Manuel was at first treated unfairly by many in the media because he was a southerner and his slow manner of speaking made people think he was dumb.
“The same thing happened in the Civil War,” McCarver, a Tennessean, says. “Northern generals like Joseph Hooker, George McClellan, and Ambrose Burnside underestimated Southern generals Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stuart because of their southern speech.”
Ever enthusiastic, he compared the slow pitches of Phils pitcher Jamie Moyer to those of Tommy John by citing a comment by former Giants’ broadcaster Lon Simmons. On a tantalizing 78-mile per-hour slow pitch by John, Simmons said, “You get the feeling you can walk along with the ball to the plate.” Said McCarver, “What a great line.”
McCarver, who had a 20-year career as a catcher, tells a funny story about the time he and a teammate wound up in the same hospital. McCarver was hit on the hand and taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco. Then his replacement, Mike Ryan, was hit by a foul ball almost immediately and he came to the same hospital some 15 minutes later.
“When the nurse took my information,” McCarver said, “she said I was Mike Ryan. I said, ‘No I’m Tim McCarver.’ She said, ‘It says here a Mike Ryan ball player was hurt. You must be Ryan.’ I said, ‘But I’m McCarver.’ Finally, it was straightened out and the two injured warriors lay in the same room.
McCarver loves to tell stories about the beloved Phillie immortal, Richie Ashburn, with whom he worked as an announcer after retiring in 1981. Ashburn was legendary for his dry sense of humor.
McCarver told of the time he was about to give up playing golf when, playing a round with Ashburn, he used Ashburn’s clubs. “Keep in mind,” Ashburn said, “that I am very emotional about these clubs.”
McCarver played so well, he told Ashburn he’d like to buy the clubs.
“I told you I was emotional abut them,” Ashburn said.
“I’ll give you $400,” McCarver said.
“So much for emotion,” said Ashburn.
On the telecast he brought up the Mets’ collapse last year. When the Mets walloped the Florida Marlins 13-0 in the next to last game, two Mets, Lastings Milledge and Jose Reyes, showboated so much, he said, they infuriated the Marlins. It motivated them to jump on the Mets and knock Tom Glavine out in the first inning, which cost the Mets a chance to tie the Phils for the division. “This was more than being motivated by clippings on the bulletin board,” he said.
McCarver has his critics. When you are on for a few hours, you are bound to irritate some viewers, who may or may not be informed. He had a period a few years ago when he leaned too much to the cranky side. He accepted my criticisms good-humoredly.
Hyperbole is always a danger. When Denny Moyer left after giving up two runs in six innings, he said, “He pitched very well.” I submit that two runs in six innings may be good, but not “very well.”
Nobody’s perfect.
©2008 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. This column first posted May 5, 2008.
You
can comment on this column online. Please address your message
to either "The Editors" or Stan Isaacs. To send an
email, click here and don't forget to mention Stan's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
|
|
|
Archives |
|
|