Even
though Rico Carty missed all of the 1971 season due to injury, I wanted
to include him in the “Missing In-Action” 1972 sub-set I’ve been
working on.
Take a look at my card:
Who knows what career numbers Carty could have finished with if not for injuries during the prime of his career.
His 1970 season was monster: a league-leading .366 batting average, a
league-leading .454 on-base-pct, 25 homers and 101 runs batted in, with a
.584 slugging percentage and 84 runs scored in only 478 at-bats.
Sadly by the time the 1972 season opened up he was about to bounce
around for the rest of his career, playing for the Texas Rangers,
Chicago Cubs, Oakland A’s, Cleveland Indians, Oakland A’s )again) and
Toronto Blue jays.
He’d finish with over 200 homers and a .299 career average, but the rest
of his numbers could have been seriously impressive if the injury bug
didn’t take him out for so much playing time in his late-20’s and
early-30’s.