# MLB: 2013 Postseason
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [September 30, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978 "2013-09-30T04:26:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 23
### Author:  [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/441 "2013-10-17T16:16:53Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> I think of McCarver as entirely a St. Louis guy–as _Bob Gibson’s_ preferred catcher.
Me, too. Looking at his wikipedia page, he spent ~14 seasons in St.L and ~11 seasons elsewhere.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/442 "2013-10-17T17:59:06Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> Oh sure. Throw in his St. Louis years, and he looks better. I was referring to his Philadelphia career.
>
> He lasted much longer than he would have otherwise because of his arrangement with Carlton. During the end of his career, he was very far from an all-star or MVP candidate.
He was still a damn good player, though. As Philly’s backup catcher he was quite often a more valuable player than some team’s regular catchers. He was playing in more than half his team’s games and posting excellent on base percentages. I don’t think you’ll find a lot of backup catchers who were better at it for as long as he was in his second stint in Philly.
I mean, I’m sure it’s true that Carlton’s demands helped keep McCarver around. Carlton was (and is) a very strange and mentally limited man who for all his talents needed to be very carefully handled, so I can understand why the Phillies were okay with getting McCarver twice (though Carlton wasn’t appreciably better when McCarver was around than when he was not, so really, it was just Carlton’s quirkiness.) But McCarver absolutely earned every minute of playing time. In 1976 he had a .409 on base percentage. In 1977 it was .410 with a lot of power, and in 1978 it was a respectable .367. This wasn’t Sal Fasano here; this was a guy who could play some baseball. Half of his appearances were as a pinch hitter, not as a catcher, because he could still rip a lefthanded pitcher.
I agree his voice should never be heard on TV again, but it’s unfair, in my opinion, to sort of cast the guy as just coasting on his relationship with Carlton. He was a really good ballplayer.
(I would further add that he really should have been the MVP of the 1964 World Series. Bob Gibson did win two games but McCarver played about a good a World Series as it is possible to play.)
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/443 "2013-10-17T18:39:56Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Carlton was (and is) a very strange and mentally limited man who for all his talents needed to be very carefully handled, so I can understand why the Phillies were okay with getting McCarver twice (though Carlton wasn’t appreciably better when McCarver was around than when he was not, so really, it was just Carlton’s quirkiness.)
Sorry to hijack, but what are you referring to? I know he had a very poor relationship with the media, to the poin of not speaking to them at all, but how was (is) he mentally limited? I don’t remember hearing this before.
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### Author:  [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/444 "2013-10-17T19:07:58Z")
I don’t know if this is what RickJay is referring to. But, this [article](http://thestacks.deadspin.com/thin-air-in-the-mountains-with-steve-carlton-armed-co-478492324)paints Carlton as a guy who believes things that you’d expect to hear from the guy who lives the park and blathers to the squirrels.
I’ve never minded Tim McCarver as much as the rest of the world seems to. But, to be fair, I also thought John Madden was the best and he doesn’t get especially high marks, either. One thing I am pretty positive about if you dislike Tim McCarver because you feel like he doesn’t like your team. You’re wrong. I remember during the Yankees - Phillies World Series and I saw fans of both teams make that claim.
Rooting interests aside these playoffs have been great to watch.
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/445 "2013-10-17T19:36:07Z")
Every complaint I have heard about McCarver is that he either talks down to the viewer like they’re idiots or else can’t tear himself way from whatever inane point he’s making. I agree with both.
Joe Buck, on the other hand, is fine.
Wow. Ok, Carlton is goofy.
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### Author:  [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/446 "2013-10-17T19:44:06Z")
Huh. I think Joe Buck is a terrible baseball announcer. It often sounds like he doesn’t want to be there.
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/447 "2013-10-17T20:17:34Z")
Yeah, I can see that. Buck can come off a bit condescending, too. I guess next to McCarver he’s a broadcasting genius.
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### Author:  [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/448 "2013-10-17T21:12:01Z")
> [@pricciar](#):
>
> Huh. I think Joe Buck is a terrible baseball announcer. It often sounds like he doesn’t want to be there.
I’m not sure if its in the name of accessibility or whatever, but he has the knack for making the most exciting things sound so mundane, if you were only listening to him and not seeing it on the screen.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/449 "2013-10-17T21:38:20Z")
I admit I don’t know what the problem is with Buck. He seems like a perfectly competent announcer.
He doesn’t jump and scream a lot, but I don’t know why that’s necessary. I don’t need the announcer to tell me something awesome just happened. If it’s awesome, we all know it.
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### Author:  [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/450 "2013-10-17T22:22:12Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#):
>
> Yeah, I can see that. Buck can come off a bit condescending, too. I guess next to McCarver he’s a broadcasting genius.
Have McCarver and Joe Morgan ever called a game together? I bet that would have been…something.
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### Author:  [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/451 "2013-10-17T23:00:20Z")
Don’t give them ideas.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/452 "2013-10-18T00:30:01Z")
Cabrera is slow when healthy and he’s not healthy. I cannot fathom why the Tigers waved him home on that play.
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### Author:  [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/453 "2013-10-18T01:26:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Cabrera is slow when healthy and he’s not healthy. I cannot fathom why the Tigers waved him home on that play.
According to Detroit’s broadcast, they didn’t. They said he ran through a stop sign, although it might have been a late stop sign.
I didn’t see it, but based on how he’s been hurting, I wouldn’t be shocked if he just decided it would be worse for him to try to change direction with his momentum.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/454 "2013-10-18T01:32:46Z")
And Avila is done for the evening. I’ll never understand why anyone wants to be a catcher. He’s had a bad couple of nights behind the plate, not to mention getting hit by the pitch.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/455 "2013-10-18T01:37:13Z")
I did hear after I posted that the third base coach put up a stop sign, but I’m not sure exactly when he told him to stop. With the way he was moving maybe he wouldn’t have beaten a throw to third either.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/456 "2013-10-18T01:43:37Z")
He put up the stop sign right as or right after Cabrera made it to 3rd. He was angled in such a way that he could see the left fielder field the ball and wanted Cabrera to keep moving until the fielder picked it up cleanly.
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### Author:  [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/457 "2013-10-18T03:57:05Z")
Well, both my teams are one win away from the World Series.
Which naturally means we can expect Tigers-Dodgers.
(I’m a lifelong Red Sox fan. We’re natural pessimists.)
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### Author:  [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/458 "2013-10-18T03:58:00Z")
Top of the ninth, sacrifice bunt, play at third base when the Detroit Catcher tagged the umpire.
What the Hell was the Umpire doing so close to third base that he got tagged by Detroit’s Catcher
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### Author:  [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/459 "2013-10-18T06:01:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> I admit I don’t know what the problem is with Buck. He seems like a perfectly competent announcer.
>
> He doesn’t jump and scream a lot, but I don’t know why that’s necessary. I don’t need the announcer to tell me something awesome just happened. If it’s awesome, we all know it.
Exhibit A: The David Tyree Catch
Exhibit B: The Randy Moss Mooning
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-2013-postseason/669978/460 "2013-10-18T12:45:57Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#):
>
> Buck can come off a bit condescending, too. I guess next to McCarver he’s a broadcasting genius.
After hearing McCarver last night telling us that with two Tigers on base, the next batter “obviously” could tie the game with a three-run homer, I turned off the sound.
If it’s that damn obvious Timmy, why are you blurting it out?
If only I could selectively block out the crowd shots of praying fans in tight spots. Fox just loooves praying fans. I hate praying fans. Show me people clapping, cheering, yelling, not silent dimwits with their hands folded.
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