One of the longest-tenured sports TV analysts is calling it a career.
FOX Major League Baseball analyst Tim McCarver will retire at the end of the 2013 season, Fox Sports announced Wednesday. McCarver has been the lead game analyst for baseball on FOX since the network began televising games in 1996 and was previously a lead analyst for CBS (1990-93) and ABC (1984-89, 1994-95).
McCarver’s longevity is almost unparalleled. By the end of this season, he will have called 25 1/2 of the past 30 World Series, and at least one League Championship Series in each of those years. His eighteen consecutive seasons with Fox Sports is the longest run by any active lead analyst on U.S. broadcast television, with CBS’ Phil Simms close behind.
Beyond baseball, he also served as co-host of CBS’ primetime coverage of the 1992 Winter Olympics.
While it would be impossible to find a sports broadcaster who does not have detractors, McCarver received more criticism than most over the years. That was, in part, a product of his long tenure — former CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer and (to a much lesser extent) longtime NFL analyst John Madden also had their share of critics.
McCarver’s retirement will coincide with the end of the current FOX TV contract. Starting in 2014, FOX and Fox Sports 1 will begin airing an expanded slate of baseball coverage that includes twice as many regular season games and two Division Series. As FOX has a fairly thin bench for baseball coverage, the added inventory and McCarver’s absence should lead the network to hire some new faces over the next year.
(Wednesday’s news from Fox Sports)
