Country singer Tim McGraw has always embraced his close connection to baseball.
The musician’s father, Tug McGraw, was an integral part of World Series-winning Phillies and Mets teams, endearing himself to both fan bases. Since then, Tim McGraw has regularly appeared at MLB games and events, including ceremonial first pitches at the World Series.
The younger McGraw has long had a celebrity wife as well, and the two have three daughters together.
Here’s what you need to know about McGraw’s family and his father’s MLB career.
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Tim McGraw dad: Tug McGraw
McGraw’s father, Tug, spent two decades as an MLB pitcher from 1965-84, functioning exclusively as a reliever from 1969 onward.
Tug was a two-time All-Star and shifted back and forth between the closer’s role and more of a set-up or multi-inning role, amassing 180 saves while playing for only two franchises: the Mets and Phillies.
Tug carried a 3.14 ERA across 1,514.2 career innings, posting a sub-3 ERA in eight seasons and a sub-2 ERA in three of them. His best statistical season came when the Phillies needed him most. Tug finished fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 1980, posting a 1.46 ERA and 20 saves across 92.1 innings and recording the final out of the World Series to capture a long-awaited championship for Philadelphia.
11 years earlier, Tug helped the Mets win the 1969 World Series with a 2.24 ERA. While he only made one appearance in the postseason, his conversion to the bullpen helped jumpstart his career and set the tone for New York during the regular season.
In 1973, Tug uttered the words that became a Mets rallying cry on their way to a division title, saying, “Ya Gotta Believe!” The Mets would ultimately lose the World Series in seven games, but Tug closed out Game 5 on the mound.
Tug was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2003 and died in early 2004 at only 59 years old. Tim spread his father’s ashes on the mound at Citizens Bank Park prior to a World Series game, and the Phillies went on to win their first championship since 1980.
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Tug McGraw career stats
| Seasons | IP | ERA | WHIP | K | Saves |
| 1965-84 | 1514.2 | 3.14 | 1.25 | 1,109 | 180 |
McGraw posted a strong 3.14 ERA over more than 1,500 major league innings, notching 1,109 strikeouts and 180 saves despite only functioning as a closer for portions of his career.
Tim McGraw wife: Faith Hill
McGraw married fellow country singer Faith Hill in 1996, and the two remain one of the most prominent celebrity couples in the music industry.
Hill is a five-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Country Music Association Award winner. She has collaborated on several songs with her husband over the years.
While her career surged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hill has remained a significant figure in country music. She also spent six seasons as the voice of the “Sunday Night Football” pre-game anthem, singing the theme from 2007-12 before handing off the baton to another country voice in Carrie Underwood.
McGraw met Hill when she opened for him on his 1996 tour, and he proposed to her in a trailer at a country music festival in 1996. “I want to say it was Montana. It was somewhere in the middle of nowhere,” Hill said on “The Tonight Show” in 2022. Despite the odd setting, she had no doubts about saying yes — and the two are closing in on 30 years of marriage.
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Tim McGraw daughters
McGraw and Hill have three daughters together.
Gracie McGraw
McGraw and Hill welcomed their first daughter, Gracie in 1997, just a year after they got married. Gracie attended New York University and pursued a career in acting while also singing on occasion. In 2025, Gracie performed on stage at Carnegie Hall in “The Great War & The Great Gatsby” with her parents in attendance.
Maggie Elizabeth McGraw
McGraw and Hill had their second daughter, Maggie, in 1998. Maggie attended both undergraduate and graduate school at Stanford University, graduating with a Master’s degree in sustainability science and practice in 2021. She lists herself as a Lead Intelligence Research and Policy Advisor for Earth League International, a non-profit that seeks to combat environmental crime.
Audrey Caroline McGraw
McGraw and Hill welcomed their youngest daughter, Audrey, in 2001. Audrey graduated from high school in 2020 and has embarked on her own singing career in addition to modeling, as she released a debut single in early 2025.
