Steve Carlton

Did You Know?

• Carlton hit 13 home runs and had 140 RBIs in his career as a pitcher.
• Carlton's high school teammate Richie Mehlich was later the victim of murder.

Early years

Carlton was born and raised in Miami, Florida, the only son of Joe and Anne Carlton, and grew up with his sisters Joanne and Christina on 144th Street. His father worked as an airline maintenance worker. As a teenager, Carlton began following the teachings of Eastern philosophy and Paramahansa Yogananda. He attended North Miami High School, where he played baseball and basketball before quitting basketball as a senior to focus on pitching. After high school, he played baseball at Miami Dade College North under coach Demie Mainieri. In 1963, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for a $5,000 bonus.

Major league career (1965–1988)

Carlton debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 at age 20 and soon became a regular in their rotation. He posted winning records and reached the World Series in 1967 and 1968. In the 1967 World Series, he started Game 5, pitching six innings and allowing only an unearned run, but took a 3–1 loss as the Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox. In the 1968 World Series, he pitched two relief games, giving up three runs over four innings as the Cardinals lost to the Detroit Tigers.

On September 15, 1969, he struck out 19 New York Mets in a 4–3 loss, setting the modern-day record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. He rebounded in 1971 with a 20–9 record. After another salary dispute, Cardinals owner Gussie Busch ordered Carlton traded; he was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies on February 26, 1972, for pitcher Rick Wise. The trade was seen as a swap of two top pitchers, with Tim McCarver calling it "a real good one for a real good one."

Legacy

Carlton was a ten-time All-Star who led the league in many pitching categories. He struck out 4,136 batters, setting a record for a left-handed pitcher later surpassed by Randy Johnson. His 329 career wins rank eleventh in baseball history. He holds the record for most consecutive starts with at least six innings pitched (69), second behind Bob Gibson.

Phillies announcer Richie Ashburn described him as a craftsman and perfectionist who painted a ballgame. Carlton picked off 144 runners, the most since pickoff records began in 1957. He pitched six one-hitters and had 90 career balks, the most in baseball history. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994 with 95.82% of the vote.

The Phillies retired his number 32 in 1989 and honored him with a statue outside Citizens Bank Park in 2004. The Sporting News ranked him 30th on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1998, and he was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Carlton considered Tom Seaver his greatest rival; Seaver went 11–3 against him in head-to-matchups.

Personal life

Carlton was married to Beverly for 33 years, divorcing in 1998; the couple had two sons. As of 2017, he lived in Durango, Colorado, where he maintained an orchard with 150 fruit trees. He said, "Before Al Gore was green, I was green." He expressed interest in a "fit for life" philosophy and partnered with St. Luke's to promote physical activity.

In 2017, he stated he had not owned a television in about 15 years and did not follow daily baseball, saying, "I owned it for 24 years. I played it, so I don't need to do it again." He criticized modern pitch counts, arguing that pitchers do not throw enough to strengthen their tendons and ligaments. Tim McCarver, his longtime catcher, joked that they would be buried in the same cemetery sixty feet, six inches apart; McCarver died in 2023.

For much of his career, Carlton was represented by David Landfield, who negotiated contracts and managed his finances. Landfield's investments failed, and by 1983 Carlton's money had vanished. Carlton fired Landfield in July 1983 and sued him, claiming embezzlement of far in excess of $100,000, but Landfield had declared bankruptcy and Carlton could not recover the funds.