Steve Carlton
Encyclopedia
Steven Norman Carlton nicknamed "Lefty", is a former Major League Baseball
left-handed pitcher
. He pitched from 1965-1988 for six different teams in his career, but it is his time with the Philadelphia Phillies
where he received his greatest acclaim as a professional and won four Cy Young Awards. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994
.
Carlton has the second-most lifetime strikeout
s of any left-handed pitcher (4th overall), and the second-most lifetime wins
of any left-handed pitcher (11th overall). He was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Award
s in a career. He held the lifetime strikeout record several times between and , before his contemporary Nolan Ryan
passed him. One of his most remarkable records was accounting for nearly half (46%) of his team's wins, when he won 27 games for the last-place (59-97) Phillies. He is still the last National League pitcher to win 25 or more games in one season, as well as the last pitcher from any team to throw more than 300 innings in a season. He also holds the record with the most career balks of any pitcher, with 90 (double the second on the all time list, Bob Welch).
, where he played little league and American Legion baseball
during his youth. He attended North Miami High School
, and later Miami-Dade Community College. In 1963, while a student at Miami-Dade, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for a $5,000 bonus.
as a 20-year-old in 1965 and by was a regular in the Cardinals rotation. An imposing (6'4"/1.93 m) man with a hard fastball
and slider
, Carlton was soon known as an intimidating and dominant pitcher. Carlton enjoyed immediate success in St. Louis, posting winning records and reaching the World Series
in 1967
and 1968
. On September 15, , Carlton struck out 19 New York Mets
, while losing to the Mets, 4-3, setting the all-time modern-day record at that time for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. That season, he finished with a 17-11 record with a 2.17 ERA, second lowest in the NL, and 210 strikeouts. A contract dispute with the Cardinals made Carlton a no-show at spring training in . He proceeded to go 10-19 with a 3.73 ERA, leading the NL in losses. In , he became a 20-game winner for the first time, going 20-9 with a 3.56 ERA.
ordered Carlton traded. Eventually, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies
before the season for pitcher Rick Wise
.
The trade is now considered one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history. However, at the time, the trade appeared to make some sense from the Cardinals' perspective. Carlton had won 77 games to Wise's 75, and both were considered the best pitchers in the game. Tim McCarver
, who had caught for Carlton in St. Louis and for Wise in Philadelphia, described the trade as "a real good one for a real good one." He felt that Carlton had more raw talent, but Wise had better command on the mound. Nonetheless, the trade is now reckoned as an epoch-making deal for the Phillies, as well as one of the worst trades in Cardinals history. While Wise stayed in the majors for another 11 years, only two of them (1972 and 1973) were in St. Louis.
In Carlton's first season with Philadelphia, he led the league in wins (27), complete games (30), strikeouts (310), and ERA (1.97), despite playing for a team whose final record was 59-97. His 1972 performance earned him the Hickok Belt
as the top professional athlete of the year. His having won 46% of his team's victories is a record in modern major league history. Carlton attributed his success to his grueling training regime, which included Eastern martial arts
techniques, the most famous of which was twisting his fist to the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket of rice
.
Some highlights of Carlton's 1972 season included starting the season with 5 wins and 1 loss, then losing 5 games in a row, during which the Phillies scored only 10 runs.
At this point he began a 15-game winning streak. After it ended at a 20-6 record, he finished the final third of the year with 7 more wins and 4 losses, ending with 27 wins and 10 losses. Since he completed 30 of 41 starts, the 1972 Phillies rarely needed the bullpen when Steve Carlton pitched.
During the 18 games of the winning streak (3 were no-decisions), Carlton pitched 155 innings, allowed 103 hits and 28 runs (only 17 in the 15 winning games), issued 39 walks, and had 140 strikeouts. From July 19, 1972 to August 13, 1972 he pitched six complete games, won six games, allowed only 1 earned run, and threw four shutouts. Over this period he pitched 56 innings, allowing only one unearned run.
Steve had three pitches, a rising fastball, a legendary slider, and a long looping curve ball. Baseball commentators during 1972 regularly remarked that Steve's slider was basically unhittable. He was also a good hitter for a pitcher. At times he pinch-hit for the Phillies during 1972.
rookie Fernando Valenzuela
was achieving stardom with the Los Angeles Dodgers
, a reporter remarked, "The two best pitchers in the National League don't speak English: Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Carlton."
in , , , and , and pitching the Phillies to the best string of post-season appearances in club history. Carlton was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, a mark later matched by Greg Maddux
, and exceeded by Roger Clemens
and Randy Johnson
. His Cy Young Award in 1972 was by unanimous vote, and he finished fifth in balloting for the National League MVP. Gradually the Phillies improved their team, and won the National League East three consecutive times from 1976-78. In 1980, Carlton helped the Phillies win their first World Series
, personally winning the final game.
Carlton won a Gold Glove Award
for his fielding in , and helped the Phillies to another pennant in 1983
, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles
in the World Series.
On September 13, 1982, for the fourth time in his career, Steve Carlton hit a home run and tossed a complete game shutout in the same game. He is the only pitcher to have done so in three different decades.
On September 23, 1983, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals
, Carlton won the 300th game of his career, becoming the 15th pitcher to accomplish the feat.
and Gaylord Perry
, in which they often traded places at the top of the all-time strikeout list.
At the start of the 1982 season, the 55-year-old mark of the great Walter Johnson
still stood at 3,508 strikeouts, but now there were three pitchers who would start the season within 100 strikeouts of Johnson: Nolan Ryan
(3,494), Gaylord Perry
(3,452), and Carlton (3,434). Ryan would be the first to surpass Johnson on April 22, 1983
against the Montreal Expos
. However a stint on the disabled list
shortly after he set the record, combined with a spectacular season by Carlton, allowed Carlton to make up ground and on June 7, 1983
, Carlton passed Ryan as the all-time strikeout king with 3,526 to Ryan's 3,524. There would be a total of 14 lead changes and one tie that season, often after each of their respective starts, before the season ended with Carlton leading 3,709 to 3,677. Gaylord Perry
, aging and in his final season, was never a huge factor, although he did eventually pass Johnson to finish his career with 3,534 strikeouts. Since then five other pitchers have surpassed Johnson's mark and he has fallen to ninth place on the all time strikeout list.
There would be five more lead changes and a tie in before Carlton ran out of gas. His last-ever lead in the all-time strikeout race was after his start on September 4, 1984
, when he struck out four Cubs
to lead Ryan by three (3,857 to 3,854). Although the season ended with a mere two-strikeout lead for Ryan (3,874 to 3,872), Carlton had an injury-riddled season in 1985
and an even worse season in 1986
before being released by the Phillies just 18 strikeouts short of 4,000.
, but pitched ineffectively save for seven shutout innings in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates
in which he also hit a 3-run homer for his only win as a Giant. He would hang around just long enough to collect his 4,000th strikeout (against Eric Davis) before retiring. He went 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA in six games for the Giants. He did however break his self imposed boycott of the media, giving a press conference after signing with the Giants.
for the remainder of the season. He was surprisingly effective, going 4-3 with a respectable 3.69 ERA, but was not offered a contract for 1987
.
, where his most notable achievement was teaming up with Phil Niekro
in a game against the New York Yankees
at Yankee Stadium, where they became the first teammates and 300-game winners to appear in the same game. Both were ineffective in a 10-6 Yankee victory. It would be his first and only pitching appearance in Yankee Stadium, having spent the majority of his career in the National League before the inception of interleague play
. (He was selected to the 1977 National League All-Star team
which was held in Yankee Stadium, but he didn't appear in the game.)
, albeit without Carlton on the postseason roster, to earn him a third World Series ring and a trip to the White House
to meet President
Reagan
along with his teammates. Interestingly, when Carlton was photographed with his teammates at the White House, newspapers listed each member of the team with the notable exception of Carlton. Instead, Carlton was listed as an "unidentified Secret Service
agent." The Twins
brought him back in but he lasted only a month (0-1 16.76 ERA in four games) before the Twins released him.
offering him the use of their facilities for training purposes but no spot on the spring training team. Nolan Ryan would pitch until and would extend his strikeout lead over Carlton to almost 1,600 before retiring. Carlton would eventually fall to third and then fourth place on the all time strikeout list after Roger Clemens
and Randy Johnson
passed him.
, Carlton led the league in many pitching categories. He struck out
4,136 batters in his career, setting a record for a left-handed pitcher (since surpassed by Randy Johnson
), and holds many other records for both left-handed and Phillies pitchers. His 329 career wins are the eleventh most in baseball history
, behind Greg Maddux
, Roger Clemens
, and Warren Spahn
among pitchers of the live-ball era (post-).
Carlton picked 144 runners off base, by far the most in Major League Baseball since pickoff records began being collected in 1957. Jerry Koosman
is second with 82.
He never threw a no hitter, but pitched six one-hitters.
Carlton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in with 96% of the vote, one of the highest percentages ever. The Phillies retired his number 32, and honored him with a statue outside Veterans Stadium
that was later moved to Citizens Bank Park
(along with a similar statue of fellow Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt
).
In 1998, The Sporting News ranked him number 30 on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In 1999, he was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
.
Despite his career-long rivalry with Ryan, Carlton maintains his greatest rival was Tom Seaver
.
His losing 19-strikeout effort against the Mets was a microcosm of his career against them. While he posted 30 wins against them during his career, they bested him 36 times.
Carlton appeared in an episode of Married... with Children
, playing himself in an episode where former athletes humiliate Al Bundy
while filming a shoe commercial. In the episode, Bud asks him for an autograph and he is shown writing with his right hand.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
left-handed pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
. He pitched from 1965-1988 for six different teams in his career, but it is his time with the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
where he received his greatest acclaim as a professional and won four Cy Young Awards. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994
Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1994
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1994 followed the system in place since 1978.The Baseball Writers Association of America voted by mail to select from recent major league players andelected Steve Carlton....
.
Carlton has the second-most lifetime strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
s of any left-handed pitcher (4th overall), and the second-most lifetime wins
Win (baseball)
In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...
of any left-handed pitcher (11th overall). He was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Award
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
s in a career. He held the lifetime strikeout record several times between and , before his contemporary Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
passed him. One of his most remarkable records was accounting for nearly half (46%) of his team's wins, when he won 27 games for the last-place (59-97) Phillies. He is still the last National League pitcher to win 25 or more games in one season, as well as the last pitcher from any team to throw more than 300 innings in a season. He also holds the record with the most career balks of any pitcher, with 90 (double the second on the all time list, Bob Welch).
Early years
Carlton was born and raised in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, where he played little league and American Legion baseball
American Legion Baseball
American Legion Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played by teenage boys in 50 states in the USA. More than five thousand teams participate each year. The American Legion Department of South Dakota established the program in 1925 at Milbank, South Dakota...
during his youth. He attended North Miami High School
North Miami High School
North Miami Senior High School , is a secondary school located at 800 NE 137th St in the city of North Miami, Florida, USA.North Miami Senior High School opened as Edward L. Constans Junior-Senior High School in 1951, with 1,500 students in 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Another grade was added each year...
, and later Miami-Dade Community College. In 1963, while a student at Miami-Dade, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for a $5,000 bonus.
St. Louis Cardinals
Carlton debuted with the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
as a 20-year-old in 1965 and by was a regular in the Cardinals rotation. An imposing (6'4"/1.93 m) man with a hard fastball
Fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch in baseball. Some "power pitchers," such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, have thrown it at speeds of 95–106 mph and up to 108.1 mph , relying purely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit...
and slider
Slider
In baseball, a slider is a pitch that breaks laterally and down, with a speed between that of a curveball and that of a fastball....
, Carlton was soon known as an intimidating and dominant pitcher. Carlton enjoyed immediate success in St. Louis, posting winning records and reaching the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
in 1967
1967 World Series
The 1967 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox in a rematch of the 1946 World Series, with the Cardinals winning in seven games for their second championship in four years and their eighth overall...
and 1968
1968 World Series
The 1968 World Series featured the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning in seven games for their first championship since 1945, and the third in their history...
. On September 15, , Carlton struck out 19 New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
, while losing to the Mets, 4-3, setting the all-time modern-day record at that time for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. That season, he finished with a 17-11 record with a 2.17 ERA, second lowest in the NL, and 210 strikeouts. A contract dispute with the Cardinals made Carlton a no-show at spring training in . He proceeded to go 10-19 with a 3.73 ERA, leading the NL in losses. In , he became a 20-game winner for the first time, going 20-9 with a 3.56 ERA.
Philadelphia Phillies
Following a salary dispute, Cardinals owner Gussie BuschGussie Busch
August "Gussie" Anheuser Busch, Jr. was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world as company chairman from 1946–75, and became a prominent sportsman as owner of the St...
ordered Carlton traded. Eventually, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
before the season for pitcher Rick Wise
Rick Wise
Richard Charles Wise is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for 18 seasons...
.
The trade is now considered one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history. However, at the time, the trade appeared to make some sense from the Cardinals' perspective. Carlton had won 77 games to Wise's 75, and both were considered the best pitchers in the game. Tim McCarver
Tim McCarver
James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:...
, who had caught for Carlton in St. Louis and for Wise in Philadelphia, described the trade as "a real good one for a real good one." He felt that Carlton had more raw talent, but Wise had better command on the mound. Nonetheless, the trade is now reckoned as an epoch-making deal for the Phillies, as well as one of the worst trades in Cardinals history. While Wise stayed in the majors for another 11 years, only two of them (1972 and 1973) were in St. Louis.
In Carlton's first season with Philadelphia, he led the league in wins (27), complete games (30), strikeouts (310), and ERA (1.97), despite playing for a team whose final record was 59-97. His 1972 performance earned him the Hickok Belt
Hickok Belt
The S. Rae Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year award, known as the Hickok Belt, was a trophy awarded for 27 years to the top professional athlete of the year in the United States...
as the top professional athlete of the year. His having won 46% of his team's victories is a record in modern major league history. Carlton attributed his success to his grueling training regime, which included Eastern martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
techniques, the most famous of which was twisting his fist to the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
.
Some highlights of Carlton's 1972 season included starting the season with 5 wins and 1 loss, then losing 5 games in a row, during which the Phillies scored only 10 runs.
At this point he began a 15-game winning streak. After it ended at a 20-6 record, he finished the final third of the year with 7 more wins and 4 losses, ending with 27 wins and 10 losses. Since he completed 30 of 41 starts, the 1972 Phillies rarely needed the bullpen when Steve Carlton pitched.
During the 18 games of the winning streak (3 were no-decisions), Carlton pitched 155 innings, allowed 103 hits and 28 runs (only 17 in the 15 winning games), issued 39 walks, and had 140 strikeouts. From July 19, 1972 to August 13, 1972 he pitched six complete games, won six games, allowed only 1 earned run, and threw four shutouts. Over this period he pitched 56 innings, allowing only one unearned run.
Steve had three pitches, a rising fastball, a legendary slider, and a long looping curve ball. Baseball commentators during 1972 regularly remarked that Steve's slider was basically unhittable. He was also a good hitter for a pitcher. At times he pinch-hit for the Phillies during 1972.
Carlton's relationship with the media
Carlton slumped in , losing 20 games. The media's open questioning of his unusual training techniques led to an acrimonious relationship between them and Carlton, and he severed all ties with the media, refusing to answer press questions for the rest of his career with the Phillies. This reached a point where, in , while the MexicanMexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
rookie Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea is a Mexican former left-handed pitcher, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers.In 1981, the 20-year-old Valenzuela took Los Angeles by storm, winning his first 8 decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Championship...
was achieving stardom with the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, a reporter remarked, "The two best pitchers in the National League don't speak English: Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Carlton."
More success
Carlton continued to enjoy many years of success with the Phillies, winning the Cy Young AwardCy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
in , , , and , and pitching the Phillies to the best string of post-season appearances in club history. Carlton was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, a mark later matched by Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux
Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson...
, and exceeded by Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
and Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson
Randall David Johnson , nicknamed "The Big Unit", is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 22-year career, he pitched for six different teams....
. His Cy Young Award in 1972 was by unanimous vote, and he finished fifth in balloting for the National League MVP. Gradually the Phillies improved their team, and won the National League East three consecutive times from 1976-78. In 1980, Carlton helped the Phillies win their first World Series
1980 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 14, 1980 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Royals jumped on Philly rookie starter Bob Walk early with a pair of two run bombs—one by Amos Otis in the second and another by Willie Aikens in the third...
, personally winning the final game.
Carlton won a Gold Glove Award
Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the...
for his fielding in , and helped the Phillies to another pennant in 1983
1983 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1983 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandJohn Denver, whose Thank God I'm a Country Boy was played at the seventh-inning stretch of each Orioles home game, sang the National Anthem prior to this game....
, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
in the World Series.
On September 13, 1982, for the fourth time in his career, Steve Carlton hit a home run and tossed a complete game shutout in the same game. He is the only pitcher to have done so in three different decades.
On September 23, 1983, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals
1983 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 1983 season was a season in American baseball. It was the team's 102nd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 92nd season in the National League...
, Carlton won the 300th game of his career, becoming the 15th pitcher to accomplish the feat.
Race with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry for the all time strikeout record
Over a three year period between -, Carlton was involved in an interesting pitching duel with Nolan RyanNolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
and Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
, in which they often traded places at the top of the all-time strikeout list.
At the start of the 1982 season, the 55-year-old mark of the great Walter Johnson
Walter Johnson
Walter Perry Johnson , nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Washington Senators...
still stood at 3,508 strikeouts, but now there were three pitchers who would start the season within 100 strikeouts of Johnson: Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
(3,494), Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
(3,452), and Carlton (3,434). Ryan would be the first to surpass Johnson on April 22, 1983
1983 Houston Astros season
The Houston Astros' 1983 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West.- Offseason :* December 10, 1982: Danny Heep was traded by the Astros to the New York Mets for Mike Scott....
against the Montreal Expos
1983 Montreal Expos season
The Montreal Expos season was the fifteenth in franchise history. At the end of the season, the Expos had managed the best cumulative winning percentage in the National League from 1979 to 1983.- Offseason :...
. However a stint on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
shortly after he set the record, combined with a spectacular season by Carlton, allowed Carlton to make up ground and on June 7, 1983
1983 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season involved the Phillies winning the National League East Division title with a record of 90-72, six games over the Pittsburgh Pirates...
, Carlton passed Ryan as the all-time strikeout king with 3,526 to Ryan's 3,524. There would be a total of 14 lead changes and one tie that season, often after each of their respective starts, before the season ended with Carlton leading 3,709 to 3,677. Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
, aging and in his final season, was never a huge factor, although he did eventually pass Johnson to finish his career with 3,534 strikeouts. Since then five other pitchers have surpassed Johnson's mark and he has fallen to ninth place on the all time strikeout list.
There would be five more lead changes and a tie in before Carlton ran out of gas. His last-ever lead in the all-time strikeout race was after his start on September 4, 1984
1984 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies are a National League Basketball team based in Philadelphia in the United States of America. Below are details about their 1984 playing season.- Offseason :* October 19, 1983: Pete Rose was released by the Phillies....
, when he struck out four Cubs
1984 Chicago Cubs season
The Chicago Cubs' 1984 season was the 109th season for the Cubs. The team finished with a record of 96-65 in first place of the National League Eastern Division. Chicago was managed by Jim Frey and the general manager was Dallas Green...
to lead Ryan by three (3,857 to 3,854). Although the season ended with a mere two-strikeout lead for Ryan (3,874 to 3,872), Carlton had an injury-riddled season in 1985
1985 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1985 season was the Philadelphia Phillies 103rd season. The Phillies finished in fifth place in the National League East with a record of 75 wins and 87 losses...
and an even worse season in 1986
1986 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was the 104th season for the Phillies. Under second-year manager John Felske, the Phillies stayed just below the .500 mark for roughly two-thirds of the season, until a charge after the All-Star break pushed the club past the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos...
before being released by the Phillies just 18 strikeouts short of 4,000.
San Francisco Giants
He joined the San Francisco Giants1986 San Francisco Giants season
-Offseason:* October 24, 1985: George Riley and Alonzo Powell were traded by the Giants to the Montreal Expos for Bill Laskey.* December 11, 1985: Manny Trillo was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Owen....
, but pitched ineffectively save for seven shutout innings in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates
1986 Pittsburgh Pirates season
In his rookie season, Barry Bonds led the Pirates with 36 Stolen Bases and finished second on the club with 16 Home Runs.-Offseason:* December 10, 1985: Bobby Bonilla was drafted from the Pirates by the Chicago White Sox in the 1985 rule 5 draft....
in which he also hit a 3-run homer for his only win as a Giant. He would hang around just long enough to collect his 4,000th strikeout (against Eric Davis) before retiring. He went 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA in six games for the Giants. He did however break his self imposed boycott of the media, giving a press conference after signing with the Giants.
Chicago White Sox
His retirement was brief: he almost immediately signed with the Chicago White Sox1986 Chicago White Sox season
The 1986 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 87th season. They finished with a record 72-90, good enough for 5th place in the American League West, 20 games behind of the 1st place California Angels.-Offseason:...
for the remainder of the season. He was surprisingly effective, going 4-3 with a respectable 3.69 ERA, but was not offered a contract for 1987
1987 Chicago White Sox season
The 1987 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 88th season. They finished with a record 77-85, good enough for 5th place in the American League West, 8 games behind of the 1st place Minnesota Twins.-Offseason:...
.
Cleveland Indians
He joined the Cleveland Indians1987 Cleveland Indians season
The Cleveland Indians finished in seventh place in the American League East. Sports Illustrated magazine predicted that the Indians would finish in first. Club president Peter Bavasi's would resign before the regular season began. Bavasi had joined the Indians in November 1984. As president of the...
, where his most notable achievement was teaming up with Phil Niekro
Phil Niekro
Philip Henry Niekro , nicknamed "Knucksie" because of his usage and skill level with the knuckleball, is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997....
in a game against the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
at Yankee Stadium, where they became the first teammates and 300-game winners to appear in the same game. Both were ineffective in a 10-6 Yankee victory. It would be his first and only pitching appearance in Yankee Stadium, having spent the majority of his career in the National League before the inception of interleague play
Interleague play
Interleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in . Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season...
. (He was selected to the 1977 National League All-Star team
1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 48th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 19, 1977, at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, New York the...
which was held in Yankee Stadium, but he didn't appear in the game.)
Minnesota Twins
He was traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he was yet again ineffective. He went a combined 6-14 with a 5.74 ERA for both the Indians and Twins. However the Twins, who had been a bad team for most of the 1980s, would go on to a surprising win in the 1987 World Series1987 World Series
The 1987 World Series pitted the Minnesota Twins versus the St. Louis Cardinals.Minnesota was victorious in a World Series that was the first in which the home team won every game...
, albeit without Carlton on the postseason roster, to earn him a third World Series ring and a trip to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to meet President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
along with his teammates. Interestingly, when Carlton was photographed with his teammates at the White House, newspapers listed each member of the team with the notable exception of Carlton. Instead, Carlton was listed as an "unidentified Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
agent." The Twins
1988 Minnesota Twins season
The 1988 Minnesota Twins finished a 91-71, second in the AL West. 3,030,672 fans attended Twins games, at the time establishing a new major league record.-Offseason:* November 7, 1987: Eric Bullock was signed as a free agent by the Twins....
brought him back in but he lasted only a month (0-1 16.76 ERA in four games) before the Twins released him.
Retirement
He attempted to find work in but found no takers. The closest thing to an offer was the New York Yankees1989 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees' 1989 season was the 87th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 74-87, finishing in fifth place, 14.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. New York was managed by Dallas Green and Bucky Dent...
offering him the use of their facilities for training purposes but no spot on the spring training team. Nolan Ryan would pitch until and would extend his strikeout lead over Carlton to almost 1,600 before retiring. Carlton would eventually fall to third and then fourth place on the all time strikeout list after Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
and Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson
Randall David Johnson , nicknamed "The Big Unit", is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 22-year career, he pitched for six different teams....
passed him.
Legacy
A ten-time All-StarMajor League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
, Carlton led the league in many pitching categories. He struck out
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
4,136 batters in his career, setting a record for a left-handed pitcher (since surpassed by Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson
Randall David Johnson , nicknamed "The Big Unit", is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 22-year career, he pitched for six different teams....
), and holds many other records for both left-handed and Phillies pitchers. His 329 career wins are the eleventh most in baseball history
Top 100 winning pitchers of all time
This is a list of the top 500 Major League Baseball winningest pitchers. In the sport of baseball, a win is a statistic credited to the pitcher for the winning team who was in the game when his team last took the lead...
, behind Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux
Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson...
, Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
, and Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was an American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was age 42...
among pitchers of the live-ball era (post-).
Carlton picked 144 runners off base, by far the most in Major League Baseball since pickoff records began being collected in 1957. Jerry Koosman
Jerry Koosman
Jerome Martin Koosman is a former left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies between 1967 and 1985...
is second with 82.
He never threw a no hitter, but pitched six one-hitters.
Carlton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in with 96% of the vote, one of the highest percentages ever. The Phillies retired his number 32, and honored him with a statue outside Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
that was later moved to Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...
(along with a similar statue of fellow Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Michael Jack Schmidt is a Hall of Fame third baseman popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball. He played his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies....
).
In 1998, The Sporting News ranked him number 30 on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In 1999, he was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
In 1999, the Major League Baseball All-Century Team was chosen by popular vote of fans. To select the team, a panel of experts first compiled a list of the 100 greatest Major League Baseball players from the past century...
.
Despite his career-long rivalry with Ryan, Carlton maintains his greatest rival was Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
.
His losing 19-strikeout effort against the Mets was a microcosm of his career against them. While he posted 30 wins against them during his career, they bested him 36 times.
Carlton appeared in an episode of Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
, playing himself in an episode where former athletes humiliate Al Bundy
Al Bundy
Al Bundy is a fictional character from the U.S. television series Married... with Children. He was played by Ed O'Neill.-Character history:...
while filming a shoe commercial. In the episode, Bud asks him for an autograph and he is shown writing with his right hand.
See also
- 300 win club300 win clubIn Major League Baseball, the 300 win club refers to the group of pitchers—24 as of 2011—who have won 300 or more games. While the "300 club" is an informal group, becoming a member is among the highest accomplishments a starting pitcher can achieve. Several members retired soon after winning their...
- 3000 strikeout club3000 strikeout clubIn Major League Baseball , the 3,000 strikeout club is a term applied to the group of pitchers who have struck out 3,000 or more batters in their careers. Walter Johnson was the first to reach 3,000, doing so in 1923, and was the only pitcher at this milestone for 50 years until Bob Gibson recorded...
- 4000 strikeout club
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- Triple Crown
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- List of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning MLB game
- Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all timeTop 100 strikeout pitchers of all timeIn baseball, a strikeout occurs when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. Strikeouts are associated with dominance on the part of the pitcher and failure on the part of the batter....
- Major League Baseball titles leadersMajor League Baseball titles leadersAt the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a title....