The World of Baseball

While there are less left-handed pitchers in Major League Baseball, some of the greatest pitchers have been southpaws. Some of these pitchers include Warren Spahn and Randy Johnson. There is a pitcher who gets overlooked because he did not communicate with the media for most of his career. That would be Steve Carlton. He pitched for 24 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Steve Carlton started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965. He had some good seasons there, including winning a championship in 1967. Carlton became a Hall of Fame pitcher with the Phillies.

Carlton had his best season in 1972. Even though the Phillies won just 59 games, he led the National League (NL) in wins with 27. Carlton also led the NL in ERA (1.97), strikeouts (310), and innings pitched (346.1). He won the 1972 NL CY Young Award. Carlton helped lead the Phillies to their first championship in 1980.

Carlton made 10 All-Star teams. He led the NL in strikeouts five times (1972, 1974, 1980, 1982, 1983). Carlton won the NL CY Young Award four times (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982). He led the NL in wins four times (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982). He is 11th all-time in wins with 329, and 4th in strikeouts with 4,136.

I believe Steve Carlton would be celebrated more if he opened up to the public. He was a dominant pitcher for a very long time. Carlton was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. He truly is a baseball legend in my opinion.