His teammates included Gibson and outfielder Curt Flood, Black players who did not hesitate to confront or tease McCarver. McCarver attended segregated schools in Memphis and often spoke of the education he received as a newcomer in St. He was signed while still in high school by the Cardinals for $75,000, a generous offer for that time just 17 when he debuted for them in 1959 and in his early 20s when he became the starting catcher. Six feet tall and solidly built, McCarver was a policeman’s son from Memphis, who got into more than a few fights while growing up but was otherwise playing baseball and football and imitating popular broadcasters, notably the Cardinals’ Harry Caray. “He taught me a lot about the game, but he taught me as much or more about how to broadcast on a on a national level.”Ĭommissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement that McCarver was “a respected teammate and one of the most influential voices our game has known.” McCarver, who in the 1960s was an early and prominent union activist, was praised Thursday by Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark for his “lead role” in the union’s formation. If that person had something to say back to him, he would engage and stood his ground, but it was fair. He was always the first one in the clubhouse the next day. If some player or manager didn’t manage or play the way he thought the game should be played, he let a national audience know it. And sometimes it was because he was a teacher of the game. “He taught me how to deal with criticism because he had been criticized, his whole broadcast career.

“I learned really fast that if you were in his inner circle, he would be a fierce defender of you and for you,” Buck said Thursday.

Backyard baseball 2003 players