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Originally Posted by Don Mueller
Steve, I guess it depends on how you define expert.
If I was going to send my son for hitting lessons and I had a choice between Joe West, Joe Morgan or a 50 yr old great veteran umpire that played rec ball till he was 30, after much deliberation I'd probably pick Morgan.
If I wanted to learn about the strategies and secrets of infield play I'd pick Joe Morgan over Dana DeMuth.
If I was picking a mentor for my son, the catcher, and I had a choice between Tim McClelland and Tim McCarver I'm sorry I'd be picking McCarver.
If I wanted an indepth education on the nuances and strategies of the game of baseball I'd pick any MLB manager or player over any of the MLB umpires.
If I wanted to improve my umpire skills I'd pick any MLB, MiLB, NCAA, or Fed veteran umpire over any ball player or coach.
I agree that most Fed and above umps know more about the rules than do Tim and Joe, but that's as far as it goes.
McCarver was successfully calling pitches for many years. He had to know hitters and tendancies, he had to adjust to batters as the game progressed and new pitchers came in, he was the field manager. You don't have a successful 20 year career in MLB as a catcher and be a dummy.
It's just like the NFL, you don't have to the brightest bulb on the team if you're playing nose tackle as long as you have great athletic skills, but skills will only get you so far at QB, eventually you have to show you're capable of grasping the mental side of the game.
Like him or not, he knows more about the game than 99.9% of the crowd.
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If I want to take batting lessons, I would go to Tony Gwynn. And, I took Coaching Baseball in college from renowned D-1 coach Jim Dietz of SDSU (before Tony Gwynn). All that on top of playing for X number of years. I readily admit that I can't hit like Tony Gwynn, coach like Jim Dietz, or play at any level resembling a major leaguer.
I played Varsity golf in HS, make custom golf clubs, and have a great knowledge of the sport of golf. Yet I can't come anywhere close to playing at Tiger Woods' level. But I could do a better job of broadcasting golf than Brent Musberger for sure.
But the subject here to start with was baseball rules knowledge, and the lack thereof on the part of Morgan and McCarver (and let's throw in Jim Palmer and Harold Reynolds while we're at it). These guys know how to
play baseball better than we ever could, but they are horrible as broadcasters, because they don't study the rules of the game to the same degree as we do. They can be great color commentators, but then they open their mouths and just spew out nonsense when it comes to the rules. It has been well documented. I'm not making anything up here.
As long as we stick to the subject, which was rules butchering by Morgan and McCarver, we all must agree that these two know less overall about baseball than we give them credit for. I don't think either knows more about the game itself (not talking about specialized areas, such as batting or catching) than the average person who has played the game. They just played it better, and at a much higher level.