Friday Reading And Tim McCarver

Genesis 17.


It's disappointing that Mike Shannon is curbing his broadcasting this year.  But understandable given his open heart surgery last year.

So I'm happy to hear the news that Tim McCarver is coming aboard.

I was a McCarver fan when I was a child and he was the Cardinals catcher, but didn't care for him too much as a broadcaster when I first saw him in the mid-80s.

A big reason for that was because he was broadcasting for the hated Mets.  But another was I always felt he slighted the Cardinals.  I don't know if it's because they traded him twice, or if it was because he didn't want to seem biased as an announcer, but he always seemed hypercritical.

My perceptions changed just before the 2006 World Series.  It was probably because, for the first time ever, the Cardinals won a series he announced that he just seemed less anti-Cardinals.  In other words, the other team finally played worse and deservedly received more criticism.

By the 2011 World Series, both McCarver and partner Joe Buck seemed to me to be completely neutral.  However, both were accused online of pro-Cardinals bias.

I've come to realize that when your team is losing, it just seems the announcers are pulling for the other team.  It's only natural.

So for the 2013 Series, I couldn't help but notice the praise heaped on our opponent by the announcers.  I would have been upset by that in years past, but I think I've learned it's just the way it is.  There really isn't any bias.

After it was over, for the first time ever, I sat and watched the post-game ceremonies when the Cardinals had lost a World Series.

I think the reason I watched was that it was McCarver's last announcing gig.  So I hung on to see him sign off and say his goodbyes.

Or so I thought.

I'll be interested to see what his approach will be this Spring on Fox Sports Midwest.  I'll be surprised if he is a "homer" in his announcing style.  I suspect he will be neutral towards the Cardinals, as he probably always was.

But I just couldn't see it.

Maybe Joe Buck will be watching and decide he'd like join the fun in 2015.