Tim McCarver may not have led the team in any offensive category, but it’s hard to discount his importance to the team. What he did do was provide well above league average offense from a position that was normally relegated to a defensive specialist. This was recognized when the voting came in for the MVP and it also showed with his 34 runs created above position that he posted in 1967. While Orlando Cepeda ran the board with all 20 first place votes, it was Tim McCarver who came in second place. He also played in his second and final All Star Game of his career.
McCarver was that perfect balance of good but not great power with exceptional patience at the plate. He finished his career with 548 walks versus only 422 strikeouts and 1967 was a microcosm of this when he struck out only 32 with 54 walks. He was second best in the National League in strikeouts per at bats with a 14.7 mark in 1967.
McCarver was dramatically better against right handed pitching then he was left handed pitching (McCarver is left handed). Against lefties, he was only .273/.336/.371 while he killed righties to the tune of .304/.382/.484. And McCarver’s overall numbers would have looked even better had it not been for a poor second half. Heading into the All Star Break, he was hitting .348/.420/.543 vs. .245/.321/.365 in the second half.
So McCarver never won a gold glove and he never won a batting title but he was definitely a vital cog in the Cardinals’ dynasty in the 1960s.
Here are McCarver’s final 1967 stats.
Games 138
AB 471
Runs 68
Hits 139
Doubles 26
Triples 3
Homeruns 14
RBIs 69
Walks 54
Strikeouts 32
Stolen Bases 8
Caught Stealing 8
BA .295
OBA .369
SLG% .452
OPS .822
RC 78
RCAA 23
RCAP 34
RC/G 5.87
ISO .157
