Will Comment Lead to Tim McCarver Being Airbrushed at FOX?

Update: Tim McCarver apologizes, will not be punished for World War II analogy.

A mild earthquake rocked the Washington D.C. area last week, but you have to wonder if the ground beneath Tim McCarver's status as FOX's lead baseball analyst is a little less stable after he delivered a rather indelicate analogy during Saturday's telecast of the Tampa Bay Rays-New York Yankees game.

In the fourth inning, McCarver and play-by-play man Kenny Albert got into a discussion of former New York manager Joe Torre's persona non grata status around Yankee Stadium and whether Torre, who guided the Pinstripes to four World Series titles in 12 years, deserved such treatment.

That led McCarver into this: "You remember some of those despotic leaders in World War II, primarily in Russia and Germany, where they used to take those pictures that they had ... taken of former generals who were no longer alive, they had shot 'em. They would airbrush the pictures, and airbrushed the generals out of the pictures. In a sense, that's what the Yankees have done with Joe Torre. They have airbrushed his legacy. I mean, there's no sign of Joe Torre at the stadium. And, that's ridiculous. I don't understand it."

A few things are worth noting. First, McCarver's broadcasting career included a stop in the Yankees' booth for three years.

In a statement issued last week by FOX after the death of owner George Steinbrenner, McCarver acknowledged, "There was more than one occasion that I upset him on the air but I got along with him fine. I'm not too sure that he was real happy with some things I said on air but that's probably the case with a lot of broadcasters with George. Mr. Steinbrenner is a winner and he put winners on the field."

Second, McCarver is an accomplished broadcaster, with three Sports Emmys for his work for all four major networks, serving as a lead analyst for ABC, CBS and FOX. Personally, he is not my cup of tea, as I find him to be repetitive and occasionally condescending, but I can certainly understand why many like him and find him insightful.

That said, as I heard McCarver make the statement, I wondered why he went to that analogy. Had he just said that Torre had been airbrushed from Yankee history, there are many who might have disagreed with the take, but wouldn't have taken offense, per se.

However, the addition of the Russian and German component into the comment could only inflame the moment, and McCarver had to have known that. I don't think he meant anything by it, but it was an incredibly insensitive thing to do.



Share The question is, will it be enough for FOX to send McCarver to the showers? Yes, McCarver, who will be 69 in October, has had an accomplished career and likely adds more to the telecast than he takes away.

But, as former CBS NCAA basketball analyst Billy Packer will attest, a lifetime of good reviews won't do much to cover you in today's hypersensitive climate, where it only takes one thoughtless comment to bring down your body of work.

All it took for the ground under Packer to be loosened was for him to suggest that there was no more reason for viewers to watch the 2008 national semifinal between North Carolina and Kansas after the Jayhawks grabbed a 26-point lead. Kansas eventually won, but not before the Tar Heels sliced the lead to four, potentially leaving Packer and CBS to look idiotic.

It's not as if FOX doesn't have a number of potential replacements in its stable or nearby who, if paired with Joe Buck, wouldn't give its broadcast a more youthful feel, a not so insignificant consideration as seasonal ratings remain flat.

McCarver may have a long week waiting to see if the ground beneath him firms up and he gets to keep his job.