Up next in my "MIA-MIA" thread is Steve Carlton, pictured here as a
St. Louis Cardinal pitcher even though by the time this card would have
come out he was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, on his way to a
season for the ages.
But first, my card design:
His last season as a Cardinal was a good one in 1971, as he posted
his first 20-win season, going 20-9 with a 3.56 earned run average, four
shutouts and 172 strikeouts.
Traded for pitcher Rick Wise, Carlton would then go on to become superstar in Philadelphia, beginning with his very first season there.
In 1972 he was just legendary, posting a 27-10 record with a tiny
1.97 E.R.A., eight shutouts and 310 strikeouts in a whopping 346.1
innings of work!
This "Triple Crown" year was all produced for a last place team, and the guy almost won HALF the teams wins!
Just monster in every sense.
All he did the rest of the way was top 300 wins, 4000 strikeouts, 50 shutouts and 700 starts in his 24 year career!
The first guy to take home four Cy Young Awards, he led his league
in wins four times, strikeouts five times, E.R.A. once and was named to
ten all-star teams.
Needless to say, by the time he was eligible for the Hall of Fame,
he was in on his first try, getting named to 436 of 456 ballots.
Sure we already had "Lefty" Grove, and "Lefty" Gomez, but Carlton
was more than worthy of the same nickname for all of his
accomplishments.
I'll be sure to create a "Nickname" card for him in the near future.