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Tim McCarver: Baseball Savant

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  He’d call it before you saw it Tim McCarver was a baseball savant. Whether you liked the way he called a game, or didn’t, he knew his shit. There was no better proof than what happened during the 2001 World Series. McCarver’s analysis when he described what might happen actually did seconds later. Tim McCarver was a baseball lifer. He had seen everything that could happen on a diamond. McCarver was the catcher on the Stl Cardinals when Bob Gibson had his best years. Gibson arguably had the best season a pitcher could have in 1967. 22 wins and a 1.12 ERA with 268 strikeouts. He won the NL Cy Young award for best pitcher and the NL MVP. Pitchers rarely win both. Tim McCarver was his personal catcher, calling all the pitches. McCarver caught Gibson’s Game One start of the 1968 World Series when Bullet Bob struck out 17 on the way to a victory. McCarver had a way with pitchers that had a mean streak. Gibson was as mercurial as a bad tempered thoroughbred horse. He also knew Steve Carlton

29 Years Ago: Ryan vs. Ventura

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  Ventura learned the hard way not to charge the GOAT There are some things in life that someone just doesn’t do. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape is one of them. Nolan Ryan, besides being the greatest human to ever throw a baseball, is a lifetime cattle rancher in the state of Texas. If there is one thing that Ryan does better than punching out batters, it’s punching cattle. He can rope ’em, poke ’em, tie ’em and brand ’em with the best of ’em. Ryan is one of those actual cowboys that  Kevin Costner  plays on television, except Ryan is not playing. Nolan is a real-life John Wayne, even though John Wayne wasn’t real life. On his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ryan pitched for 27 seasons, won 292 games, and struck out 5,714 hitters. Nobody will ever strike out that many hitters ever again. Ryan threw fastballs over 100 mph and a curveball that was like it was falling off a table. Later in his career, he developed an off-speed pitch that just wasn’t fair. If hitters could’ve sued him, the