William C. Kashatus - Lefty and Tim: How Steve Carlton and Tim Mccarver Became Baseballs Best Battery

Steve Carlton needed Tim McCarver to reach for the stars. In all my years covering baseball, Ive never seen a pitcher-catcher relationship quite like theirs. McCarver did more than merely help Carlton rediscover his slider and recapture his greatness. He found a place inside Carltons circle of trust that reshaped both of their careers. Kashatus does a beautiful job of delving into what made their bond so special, on and off the field.

Jayson Stark, baseball writer for the Athletic and the Philadelphia Inquirer, 19792000, and 2019 J. G. Taylor Spink Award winner

Bill Kashatus takes an inside look at a historic baseball brotherhood, revealing in riveting detail how Tim McCarver helped push a pitcher he claimed had an irascible contempt for being human to superhuman heights no pitcher may ever reach again.

Tyler Kepner, author of K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches

It was amazing to play behind Carlton and McCarver. Steve was a fast worker and Tim knew the hitters so well that the Phillies could count on winning every time they started a game. Lefty and Tim tells the story of that winning combination.

Mike Schmidt, Phillies Hall of Fame third baseman, 197289

Steve Carlton was a special project for me when he came to the Phillies in 1972. He could be strong-willed and stubborn, and we had many battles. But he also became the best pitcher I ever coached. Lefty and Tim reveals how Carlton became a Hall of Famer. It is one of the best books Ive ever read.

Ray Rippelmeyer, Phillies pitching coach, 197078

William C. Kashatus

Foreword by Larry Christenson

University of Nebraska Press | Lincoln

2022 by William C. Kashatus

Foreword 2022 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska

Cover designed by University of Nebraska Press; cover image: Tim McCarver and Steve Carlton, 1977 (Larry Christenson).

Author photo courtesy of the author.

Portions of the book previously appeared in Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008). Copyright 2008 University of Pennsylvania Press. Used with permission.

All rights reserved

The University of Nebraska Press is part of a land-grant institution with campuses and programs on the past, present, and future homelands of the Pawnee, Ponca, Otoe-Missouria, Omaha, Dakota, Lakota, Kaw, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples, as well as those of the relocated Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox, and Iowa Peoples.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kashatus, William C., 1959 author.

Title: Lefty and Tim: how Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver became baseballs best battery / William C. Kashatus; foreword by Larry Christenson.

Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021043219

ISBN 9781496226679 (hardback)

ISBN 9781496232168 (epub)

ISBN 9781496232175 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH : Carlton, Steve, 1944 | McCarver, Tim. | Pitchers (Baseball)United StatesBiography. | Catchers (Baseball)United StatesBiography. | BaseballUnited StatesHistory20th century. | St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)History20th century. | Philadelphia Phillies (Baseball team)History20th century. | BISAC : SPORTS & RECREATION / Baseball / History | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Sports

Classification: LCC GV 865. C 317 K 37 2022 | DDC 796.357092 [B]dc23/eng/20211223

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021043219

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

For LC, with great appreciation for his MLB career and his friendship

Larry Christenson

Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver are my best friends from Major League Baseball. But fifty years ago I would never have predicted that either one would play such a huge role in my career as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.

I grew up in the small town of Marysville, Washington, about forty miles north of Seattle. Although I played all sports, basketball and baseball were my favorites, and I excelled at both of them. In June 1972 the Phillies made me their top draft pick, and a few days after I graduated from high school the organization flew me and my family to Philadelphia for a weekend visit.

That Sunday, Steve Carlton introduced himself and congratulated me on being drafted by the Phillies. Later I sat in one of the field boxes and watched him throw a complete-game, three-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The great Roberto Clemente also hit a triple for the Bucs and threw out a base runner at third. Carlton went on to win twenty-seven games for the last-place Phils that season and capture the Cy Young Award.

The next spring I was invited to Clearwater to train with the Major League club. I pitched so well that first-year manager Danny Ozark told me I had made the team. At age nineteen, I was the youngest player in the Majors in 1973. Steve Carlton, who called me Kid, took me under his wing and protected me from the hazing and other vulnerabilities that young players suffer. Two years later Tim McCarver, who had played for the Phils between 1970 and 1972, rejoined the club, and we became fast friends.

What a great era to have played for the Phillies! We became perennial contenders with Carlton as our ace. Between 1976 and 1983 the Phillies won five division titles, two National League pennants, and the clubs first-ever World Series. I also learned a lot from Lefty and Tim. They taught me to stop talking to opposing hitters so those batters wouldnt be too comfortable with me when they stepped to the plate in a game. Lefty explained the importance of throwing pitches to the outside part and edges of the plate and keeping the ball away from the middle part of the strike zone. Tim taught me the importance of pitching inside to intimidate the hitter and not to shake him off when he called for a particular pitch. To this day Tim still reminds me that his advice allowed me to throw three-hit and four-hit shutouts on the only two occasions he caught me.

It was also a pleasure to watch Lefty and Tim perform as a battery and learn how they worked the various hitters in a lineup. Whenever Tim caught, I was put in charge of preparing three Band-Aids for him so he could wrap them around his fingers before he went to bat. I think I opened more Band-Aids for McCarver than Carter has liver pills. Still, I enjoyed the task since it allowed me to eavesdrop on his discussions with Lefty between innings and learn even more about pitching.

Lefty, Tim, and I also spent a lot of time together off the field. Although Timmy transitioned to the Phillies broadcast booth in 1980, he and Lefty were always there for me. We went out to dinner together and enjoyed good restaurants and fine food. They introduced me to their former teammates from the St. Louis Cardinals, including the great Bob Gibson. Those Cardinals became my friends, too. Its been more than four decades since Lefty, Tim, and I were teammates, but there is hardly a day that passes that I do not think of these two Hall of Famers. Timmy, who played in four decades, became a broadcaster for another forty years and entered the Hall as a Ford Frick Award winner. When I think of Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver, I think of their impressive legacies with the Cardinals and the Phillies and their many fans. I think of their character, their honesty and integrity, and most of all their trust in each other. I am proud and honored to have been a part of their great careers and grateful for their special friendship, which continues today.