1944
Born December 22, 1944
Miami, FL, USA
Steve Carlton Marquee Hall of Fame 1994
b. December 22, 1944 · St. Louis Cardinals 1965–1971, Philadelphia Phillies 1972–1986, San Francisco Giants 1986, Chicago White Sox 1986, Cleveland Indians 1987, Minnesota Twins 1987–1988
St. Louis traded him to Philadelphia after the 1971 season, in which he had won 20 games for the Cardinals. What he did the next year has no clean parallel: a 1.97 earned run average, 310 strikeouts, 30 complete games, and 346 innings pitched, all for a club that finished last in the National League East.
He stayed in Philadelphia fifteen years and won three more Cy Young Awards, in 1977, 1980, and 1982, giving him four. He led the National League in wins four times and in strikeouts five, and he finished 329-244 with 4,136 strikeouts, the most by a left-handed pitcher until Randy Johnson passed him.
The Phillies had never won a World Series in their history before 1980, when Carlton went 24-9 and they did. For long stretches of his career he refused to speak with reporters at all, which left the record to make his case. He pitched for four more clubs before retiring in 1988 and entered the Hall of Fame in 1994.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 10 | 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 7 | 1969, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 |
| Cy Young Award | 4 | 1972, 1977, 1980, 1982 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 4 | 1972, 1977, 1980, 1982 |
| Player of the Week | 3 | 1977, 1979, 1980 |
| Gold Glove | 1 | 1981 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1980 |
| Triple Crown (pitching) | 1 | 1972 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | STL | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1966 | STL | 9 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .267 |
| 1967 | STL | 30 | 72 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 0 | .153 |
| 1968 | STL | 35 | 73 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 | .164 |
| 1969 | STL | 32 | 80 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 27 | 0 | .212 |
| 1970 | STL | 34 | 80 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 28 | 1 | .200 |
| 1971 | STL | 37 | 96 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 31 | 0 | .177 |
| 1972 | PHI | 41 | 117 | 6 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 0 | .197 |
| 1973 | PHI | 40 | 100 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 0 | .160 |
| 1974 | PHI | 39 | 102 | 7 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 0 | .245 |
| 1975 | PHI | 37 | 90 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 0 | .156 |
| 1976 | PHI | 35 | 92 | 5 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 0 | .217 |
| 1977 | PHI | 36 | 97 | 7 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .268 |
| 1978 | PHI | 34 | 86 | 7 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 0 | .291 |
| 1979 | PHI | 36 | 94 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 1 | .223 |
| 1980 | PHI | 38 | 101 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 0 | .188 |
| 1981 | PHI | 24 | 67 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0 | .134 |
| 1982 | PHI | 38 | 101 | 8 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .218 |
| 1983 | PHI | 37 | 97 | 9 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .196 |
| 1984 | PHI | 34 | 84 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .190 |
| 1985 | PHI | 16 | 28 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .179 |
| 1986 | CHW/PHI/SFG | 32 | 45 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .200 |
| 1987 | CLE/MIN | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1988 | MIN | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 745 | 1719 | 123 | 346 | 49 | 6 | 13 | 140 | 41 | 413 | 2 | .201 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | STL | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 25.0 | 27 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 2.52 |
| 1966 | STL | 3 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 52.0 | 56 | 18 | 18 | 25 | 3.12 |
| 1967 | STL | 14 | 9 | 30 | 28 | 1 | 193.0 | 173 | 64 | 62 | 168 | 2.98 |
| 1968 | STL | 13 | 11 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 231.2 | 214 | 77 | 61 | 162 | 2.99 |
| 1969 | STL | 17 | 11 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 236.1 | 185 | 57 | 93 | 210 | 2.17 |
| 1970 | STL | 10 | 19 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 253.2 | 239 | 105 | 109 | 193 | 3.73 |
| 1971 | STL | 20 | 9 | 37 | 36 | 0 | 273.1 | 275 | 108 | 98 | 172 | 3.56 |
| 1972 | PHI | 27 | 10 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 346.1 | 257 | 76 | 87 | 310 | 1.97 |
| 1973 | PHI | 13 | 20 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 293.1 | 293 | 127 | 113 | 223 | 3.90 |
| 1974 | PHI | 16 | 13 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 291.0 | 249 | 104 | 136 | 240 | 3.22 |
| 1975 | PHI | 15 | 14 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 255.1 | 217 | 101 | 104 | 192 | 3.56 |
| 1976 | PHI | 20 | 7 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 252.2 | 224 | 88 | 72 | 195 | 3.13 |
| 1977 | PHI | 23 | 10 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 283.0 | 229 | 83 | 89 | 198 | 2.64 |
| 1978 | PHI | 16 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 247.1 | 228 | 78 | 63 | 161 | 2.84 |
| 1979 | PHI | 18 | 11 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 251.0 | 202 | 101 | 89 | 213 | 3.62 |
| 1980 | PHI | 24 | 9 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 304.0 | 243 | 79 | 90 | 286 | 2.34 |
| 1981 | PHI | 13 | 4 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 190.0 | 152 | 51 | 62 | 179 | 2.42 |
| 1982 | PHI | 23 | 11 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 295.2 | 253 | 102 | 86 | 286 | 3.10 |
| 1983 | PHI | 15 | 16 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 283.2 | 277 | 98 | 84 | 275 | 3.11 |
| 1984 | PHI | 13 | 7 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 229.0 | 214 | 91 | 79 | 163 | 3.58 |
| 1985 | PHI | 1 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 92.0 | 84 | 34 | 53 | 48 | 3.33 |
| 1986 | CHW/PHI/SFG | 9 | 14 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 176.1 | 196 | 100 | 86 | 120 | 5.10 |
| 1987 | CLE/MIN | 6 | 14 | 32 | 21 | 1 | 152.0 | 165 | 97 | 86 | 91 | 5.74 |
| 1988 | MIN | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9.2 | 20 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 16.76 |
| Career | — | 329 | 244 | 741 | 709 | 2 | 5217.1 | 4672 | 1864 | 1833 | 4136 | 3.22 |
On this day & linked events
1965
Major-league debut: Steve Carlton
Steve Carlton made a major-league debut on April 12, 1965.
1988
Final major-league game: Steve Carlton
Steve Carlton played a final major-league game on April 23, 1988.
Image: Rubenstein, CC BY 2.0