Tim McCarver has called road games for the St. Louis Cardinals on a part-time basis since 2013. His most recent contract ended when the Cards were eliminated from post-season contention. To this point, McCarver hasn’t said whether or not he will be back with the team in 2019.
In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, McCarver said that his return would depend on his health and the Cardinals’ interest in having him return.
“I have not decided yet, I usually decide sometime in December,” he said. “And I haven’t talked to anybody at the Cardinals about it, either.”
McCarver, who turns 77 on Tuesday, lives in Florida so every Cards game he broadcasts is a road contest. He said if he’s invited back, his health will be a factor in determining if he will do it again.
“I feel OK now, but I’m a just spectator watching the (postseason) games, and that’s what I’ll be doing all of October,” he said. “Whether I feel good, whether I feel up to it,” would play a big role in a decision.
“The Cardinals have not approached me one way or the other,” McCarver added. “So we’ll see.”
There would be no shortage of replacements for McCarver if he doesn’t return. Play-by-play man Dan McLaughlin worked with five different partners on Cardinals TV broadcasts in 2018. He called that a challenge. “It can be a challenge, because there’s a rotation of different personalties. As a baseball play-by-play guy, my job is to set them up and make them look as good as they can.That’s what I try to do every single time.”
McLaughlin’s contract is also up. He is expected to return to the team. Al Hrabosky, one of the many analysts McLaughlin worked with this season, is expected to move to a studio role in 2019.
