A re-post form 2021
Tim McCarver fixed Ralph Kiner.
Ralph had become a cartoon character. An old guy in his 60s who would get names wrong and called a sleepy game.
Then along came Tim. Tim knew how to pull stories out of the man. Suddenly this retired baseball player had STORIES. Did YOU date Liz Taylor? Ralph did. And Tim would ask him about it. (Read this recap of Ralph’s HOF Dating Career)
More about Ralph when we get to him.
Tim also taught us kids of the 1980s about baseball strategy. There was some first-guessing and some second-guessing. He wasn’t just passively sitting there. Baseball on TV got a lot more interesting.
I know that by the time Tim’s national television career ended that people wanted him to shut up, but in the 80s, Tim was some great television.
