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Steve Carlton

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Baseball Player

The Resume

    (December 22, 1944- )
    Played for St. Louis Cardinals (1965-1971), Philadelphia Phillies (1972-1986), San Francisco Giants (1986), Chicago White Sox (1986), Cleveland Indians (1987), and Minnesota Twins (1987-1988)
    Batted and threw left
    Ten-time National League All-Star (1968-1969, 1971-1972, 1974, 1977, 1979-1982); starter and winner of 1969 All-Star Game
    Member of 1967 World Series champions Cardinals and 1980 World Series champions Phillies
    Nicknamed 'Lefty'
    Four-time Cy Young Award winner (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982)
    Led league four times in victories, five times in strikeouts, and once in ERA
    Finished his 24-year career with a 329-244 record, 4,136 strikeouts, 55 shutouts and a 3.22 ERA
    Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame (1994)

Why he might be annoying:

    He refused to speak to the media from 1974 until the end of his career in 1988.
    He was viewed as an odd bird, with a focus that bordered on robotic and a personality that bordered on bizarre.
    When pitching, he stuffed his ears with cotton to block out crowd noise and help him concentrate.
    According to an interview published in Philadelphia Magazine in 1994, he has no television or radio, does not read newspapers and sees a world filled with conspiracies and headed for armageddon. One of those conspiracies mentioned in the article was that 12 Jewish bankers control the world, a classic anti-Semitic rant.
    He lost 20 games in one season (1973) and 19 games in another season (1970).
    From 1985 through 1988, his overall record was 16-37 with a 5.21 ERA.
    With his skills in notable decline, the Phillies asked him to retire during the 1986 season. He refused to retire, so the Phillies released him. He then bounced around to four different teams over the next two years in a futile attempt to hang on to his major league career.
    He was the first pitcher to strike out 19 batters in a nine-inning game, but he lost that game to the New York Mets, 4-3 (Sept. 15, 1969).
    His sneaky pick off move tested the limits of the balk rule.
    Although Bob Boone was the Phillies' starting catcher in the late 1970's, he insisted that his former Cardinals teammate Tim McCarver catch on the days that he pitched.
    Although he pitched six one-hitters, he never pitched a no-hitter.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is the second winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball history, after Warren Spahn.
    His career total of 4,136 strikeouts is second all-time to Nolan Ryan.
    He was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards.
    His best pitch was a slider, a pitch so difficult to hit that Pirates slugger Willie Stargell likened it to 'drinking coffee with a fork.'
    He won two games in the 1980 World Series, including the decisive Game Six, a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals to give the Phillies their first World Series championship.
    The Cardinals traded him to the Phillies on Feb. 25, 1972 due to a contract dispute over $5,000.
    In 1972, his first season with the Phillies, Carlton had one of the most incredible seasons ever for a pitcher, finishing with a 27-10 record, 310 strikeouts, 30 complete games, 8 shutouts, and 1.91 ERA for a last-place team. He won 15 games in a row, won 46% of his team's 59 victories and earned his first Cy Young Award unanimously.
    After the Cardinals traded him, he had a lifetime record of 38-14 against his former team, including his 300th career victory against the Cardinals in 1983.
    He engaged in an exotic yet rigorous physical conditioning regimen that included martial arts, meditation, and stretching his left arm in a bag of rice.
    Although he was mute to the press, he was loquacious with his teammates on many subjects, particularly his hobby of wine collecting.
    After the Phillies released him in 1986, he broke his silence to publicly thank the Phillies fans for their support.
    He firmly denied the anti-Semitic comments in the 1994 article, mentioning for good measure that Sandy Koufax was one of his heroes. The American Jewish Congress said that it believed Carlton.
    He currently lives in the scenic mountain town of Durango, Colorado, where he works with a sports marketing business, plays in celebrity golf tournaments, and seems as affable as anyone you'll meet.
    The Phillies retired his uniform number 32 in 1989.

Credit: Highpointer


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 71 Votes: 52.11% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 31 Votes: 54.84% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 59 Votes: 66.10% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 37 Votes: 48.65% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 60 Votes: 68.33% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 115 Votes: 48.70% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 232 Votes: 58.19% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 245 Votes: 57.55% Annoying