Cy Young Profile: Steve Carlton, 1972

Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies

Age:  27

1^st season with Phillies

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 210

Prior to 1972:

A native of Miami, Florida Carlton played basketball as well as baseball at North Miami High School. Moving on to Miami-Dade College he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1964 he was first assigned to Rock Hill of the Class A Western Carolinas League where he excelled by compiling a 10-1 record in 11 games with a 1.03 ERA and 91 strikeouts over 79 innings pitched. He was sent next to Winnipeg of the advanced Class A Northern League where he went 4-4 with a 3.36 ERA in 12 appearances. Carlton finished up the year with Tulsa of the Class AA Texas League where he was 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA. He moved up to the Cardinals in 1965 in order to protect him from being taken by another team in the Rule 5 draft. Encountering arm trouble, he was used sparingly and appeared in 15 games, almost exclusively in relief, and had no decisions and a 2.52 ERA. Carlton opened the 1966 season in Tulsa and was 9-5 with a 3.59 ERA when he was promoted back to the Cardinals. For the remainder of the season he started nine games and went 3-3 with a 3.12 ERA and 25 strikeouts over the course of 52 innings pitched. He joined the starting rotation in 1967, a year in which the Cards won the NL pennant and World Series. He contributed a 14-9 record and 2.98 ERA while striking out 168 batters over 193 innings pitched. He also benefited from his proximity to ace RHP Bob Gibson and his fierce approach to pitching. Carlton lost his only start in the World Series against the Red Sox while giving up three hits and an unearned run over six innings. The Cardinals won the NL pennant again in 1968 and Carlton was an All-Star for the first time on his way to compiling a 13-11 tally with a 2.99 ERA and 162 strikeouts. He added a slider to his pitching repertoire that already included a rising fastball and curve in 1969 and improved to 17-11 with a 2.17 ERA and 210 strikeouts, including 19 in a loss to the Mets which set what was then the major league record for a nine-inning game. Once more an All-Star he sought a significant raise from his $26,000 salary and he held out in 1970 for a large part of spring training. He had a down year in ’70, with a 10-19 record and 3.73 ERA. Carlton bounced back in 1971 going 20-9 with a 3.56 ERA and 172 strikeouts while pitching 273.1 innings and completing 18 games. An All-Star for the third time he demanded a significant raise and antagonized owner Gussie Busch, who ordered that he be traded during spring training of 1972. He was dealt to the Phillies for RHP Rick Wise.

1972 Season Summary

Appeared in 41 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 41

Games Started – 41 [1]

Complete Games – 30 [1]

Wins – 27 [1]

Losses – 10

PCT - .730 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 8 [2]

Innings Pitched – 346.1 [1]

Hits – 257 [1]

Runs – 84 [18, tied with Bob Moose, Carl Morton & Bill Singer]

Earned Runs – 76 [18, tied with Bob Gibson]

Home Runs – 17 [19, tied with Ken Reynolds & Wayne Simpson]

Bases on Balls – 87 [7]

Strikeouts – 310 [1]

ERA – 1.97 [1]

Hit Batters – 1

Balks – 2 [3, tied with twelve others]

Wild Pitches – 8 [14, tied with eight others]

League-leading games started were +4 ahead of runner-up Steve Arlin

League-leading complete games were +7 ahead of runners-up Ferguson Jenkins & Bob Gibson

League-leading wins were +6 ahead of runner-up Tom Seaver

League-leading innings pitched were +57 ahead of runner-up Ferguson Jenkins

League-leading hits allowed were +3 ahead of runner-up Phil Niekro

League-leading strikeouts were +61 ahead of runner-up Tom Seaver

League-leading ERA was -0.02 lower than runner-up Gary Nolan

Midseason Snapshot: 14-6, ERA - 2.48, SO – 201 in 196.1 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 14 (in 9 IP) at San Francisco 4/25

10+ strikeout games – 9

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) at San Francisco 4/25

Batting

PA – 130, AB – 117, R – 6, H – 23, 2B – 3, 3B – 1, HR – 1, RBI – 8, BB – 5, SO – 31, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .197, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 7, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 47

Put Outs – 8

Assists – 37

Errors – 2

DP – 3

Pct. - .957

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

5^th in NL MVP voting (124 points, 1 first place vote, 37% share)

NL Cy Young voting (Top 4):

Steve Carlton, Phila.: 120 pts. – 24 of 24 first place votes, 100% share

Steve Blass, Pitt.: 35 pts. – 29% share

Ferguson Jenkins, ChiC.: 23 pts. – 19% share

Mike Marshall, Mon.: 8 pts. – 7% share

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Phillies went 59-97 to finish sixth (last) in the NL Eastern Division, 37.5 games behind the division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates in the season that started late and lost games to a players’ strike. Carlton accounted for a record 45.8 % of the team’s wins. Runner-up among the pitching staff to Carlton’s 27 wins was Darrell Brandon, who went 7-7.

Aftermath of ‘72:

Carlton dropped to 13-20 with a 3.90 ERA in 1973, although he again led the league with 18 complete games and 293.1 innings pitched. By the end of the season he had stopped speaking to reporters, a position he upheld for the remainder of his career. He improved to 16-13 with a 3.22 ERA and a NL-leading 240 strikeouts in 1974 and was 15-14 with a 3.56 ERA and 192 strikeouts in 1975. During this period Carlton developed a workout regimen with trainer Gus Hoefling designed to improve his concentration and stamina, building upon his established interests in martial arts and Eastern religion. His efforts bore fruit in 1976 with a 20-7 record and 3.13 ERA and 192 strikeouts for a Phillies team that topped the NL East. He was 23-10 in 1977 with a 2.64 ERA and 198 strikeouts and won his second Cy Young Award as the Phils again finished atop the division. They did once more in 1978 while their eccentric pitching ace known as “Lefty” compiled a 16-13 record with a 2.84 ERA and 161 strikeouts. He had an 18-11 tally for the fourth place Phils in 1979 with a 3.62 ERA and 213 strikeouts. The Phillies rebounded in 1980 to win the NL East and the league pennant as well as a franchise-first World Series. Carlton produced a 24-9 record and 2.34 ERA while also leading the league in innings pitched (304) and strikeouts (286). His performance earned him a third Cy Young Award. In the World Series vs. the Royals he won two games including the decisive sixth contest. In the strike-shortened 1981 season he was 13-4 with a 2.42 ERA and 179 strikeouts over 190 innings pitched and placed third in NL Cy Young Award balloting. Carlton followed with another outstanding season in 1982 in which he led the NL in wins with a 23-11 record as well as complete games (19), shutouts (6), and strikeouts (286). He was honored with a fourth Cy Young Award. In 1983, another pennant-winning year for Philadelphia, Carlton’s record dropped to 15-16 with a 3.11 ERA although he topped the league with 283.2 innings pitched and 275 strikeouts. He had a fair, but not outstanding, performance in 1984 that produced a 13-7 record and 3.58 ERA along with 163 strikeouts over 229 innings. He slipped considerably in 1985 at age 40, finding himself on the disabled list with a strained rotator cuff on his way to a 1-8 tally and 3.33 ERA in only 16 starts. He lasted until June in 1986 when he was released by the Phillies with a 4-8 record and 6.18 ERA in 16 starts. Signed by the San Francisco Giants, the situation showed no improvement as he went 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA prior to being let go in August, shortly after recording his 4000^th career strikeout. Carlton announced that he was retiring but ended up finishing the season with the Chicago White Sox. He was 4-3 in 10 starts for his third club in ‘86 with a 3.69 ERA. Carlton spent 1987 with the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins, generating a combined record of 6-14. Re-signed by the Twins for 1988 Carlton made just four appearances before being released, thus ending his career, although he continued to seek opportunities to catch on with another team. Overall in the major leagues Carlton compiled a 329-244 record with a 3.22 ERA and 4136 strikeouts in 5217.2 innings pitched. With the Phillies he was 241-161 with a 3.09 ERA and 3031 strikeouts over 3697.1 innings pitched. While he pitched 254 complete games that included 55 shutouts, he didn’t pitch any no-hitters although he recorded 6 one-hitters. He was also called for a record 90 balks over the course of his career. In the postseason Carlton went 6-6 with a 3.26 ERA and 84 strikeouts over 99.1 innings pitched. 13 of his 16 appearances came with the Phillies. He was a 10-time All-Star (7 with Philadelphia) and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. The Phillies retired his #32 and honored him on their Wall of Fame at Citizens Bank Park, outside of which a statue of him was erected.    

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.