Tom Seaver will be throwing out the first pitch at this year’s All-Star Game, though he will be throwing a tad bit slower than he did 46 years ago when he closed out the Mid-Summer Classic for the National League — just ask Tim McCarver.
“Tony Perez puts the team ahead in the top of the 15th with a home run and I was catching Seaver in the bottom half and he was throwing bullets,” McCarver said of the Mets great in the 1967 All-Star Game.
“I mean bullets. My hand hurt for two or three weeks after that. I still remember the pain, the swelling in my left hand. I’ve never talked to Tom about that, but that had to be as hard as he’s ever thrown. I faced him a ton of times after that over the next 12-13 years and I can’t ever remember him throwing that hard.”
McCarver might get a chance to share that memory with Seaver at Citi Field on Tuesday when he will be in the booth for Fox. It will be McCarver’s final All-Star Game as a broadcaster. He announced before the season that he would be stepping down as a regular analyst for the network following the World Series.
“I am trying to pare my workload — nothing more or less than that. When you don’t do the All-Star Game, Championship Series and World Series that’s a significant part of your schedule,” he said.
His memories of the All-Star Game stretch beyond the two he participated in as a player. McCarver recalled jumping up and down and shouting for joy in his Memphis home when Stan Musial hit the game-winning homer in the 1955 version. Now McCarver, 71, has spent more than 25 years calling the game.
He also spent 16 years as an analyst for the Mets across the street at Shea Stadium, but he called any special connection for him this week because of that “a reach.” But he is rooting for Mets ace Matt Harvey getting a chance to start the game in front of his home crowd, a decision NL manager Bruce Bochy will announce on Monday.
“The Mets make a lot of mistakes,” McCarver said. “A lot. I don’t think anyone in New York would disagree with me on that.
“It would be a gift to the loyal fans, who have to deal with one disappointment after another. This would be something you could stick your chest out and be proud of, Harvey starting the All-Star Game. It’s not like a gift. The guy deserves it as much as any pitcher in the National League.”
There is no doubt another Met will be starting. David Wright, who signed a long-term deal with the team this offseason, won the third base vote.
“We talk about loyal fans. Here’s a guy that’s been a loyal player and certainly the face of that organization since he signed,” McCarver said. “You talk about a guy that’s been a good soldier, and to see him have a chance to perform in front of the home crowd is really a nice thing.
“It’s a nice thing for a nice man, who is a total professional in every sense of the word.”