Tim McCarver will retire after the 2013 MLB season

After 23 World Series and 20 MLB All-Star Games, Tim McCarver says “it is time to cut back.”

The Hall of Fame broadcaster, who has been working on national television since 1984, plans to retire as a full-time announcer following the 2013 Major League Baseball season. McCarver says he has been thinking about “when it’s gonna end” for the last two years. McCarver’s contract with Fox was up at the end of this season. He may have a chance at a part-time role with Fox or Fox Sports in the future.

“I’ve informed FOX Sports that I will not seek to extend my contract to broadcast baseball past the 2013 season,” said McCarver. “Although I am neither tired of broadcasting baseball nor have I in any way lost my interest in baseball, with which I have been associated as a player and broadcaster for 55 years, it’s time to cut back. Since 1996, my time with Joe Buck has been filled with some of the most memorable moments in the game’s magnificent history. I am very proud to have been a part of all the things that make this game so special for all of us who follow it day-to-day, week-to-week and year-to-year. Finally, to the gifted men and women at FOX with whom I’ve worked with over the last 17 years, your work has been exemplary and unmatched. You’re the best in the business and it has been a privilege.”

“It was my great fortune to be paired with Tim as a kid back in 1996,” said his broadcast partner of 18 years, Joe Buck. “It gave me instant credibility and helped shaped my career. Tim is the best ever to do what he does, the ultimate professional and the best first-guesser in the history of this business. I have always been proud to call him my partner, and I’m prouder still to call him my friend. I will be forever grateful to him for both parts of our relationship, and I’m going to miss him next year.”

The announcement was made during a conference call that featured McCarver, Buck, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and former senior chairman of Fox Sports, David Hill, who hired McCarver for Fox Sports back in 1996.

“Tim McCarver is one of the best broadcasters I have ever worked with, that I have ever listened to,” said Hill.

McCarver says he plans to spend more time in his homes in Napa Valley and Florida, and wants to take cooking classes and travel. He was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for “major contributions to baseball” by a broadcaster.