Steve Carlton, baseball player, 1965-1988

Steve Carlton

⭐ Hall of Fame 1994

Born: 12/22/1944 in Miami, FL, USA

MLB Debut: 1965-04-12 | Final Game: 1988-04-23

Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 6'4" | Weight: 210 lbs

Full name: Steven Norman Carlton

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Biography

Steve Carlton, born in 1944, was a dominant pitcher whose career spanned from 1965 to 1988. Known for his fierce competitiveness and exceptional skill on the mound, Carlton accumulated a career record of 329-244 and finished with an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.22. Over his 24-season tenure in Major League Baseball, he recorded a remarkable 4,136 strikeouts, establishing himself as one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in the history of the game. Carlton also contributed to his teams with two saves, showcasing his versatility as a pitcher. A four-time Cy Young Award winner, Carlton's excellence on the field was recognized repeatedly, and he was selected as an All-Star ten times throughout his career. His influence extended beyond mere statistics; Carlton was known for his distinctive fastball and devastating slider, which became a hallmark of his pitching style. He played a significant role during a transformative era in baseball, navigating the transition from the deadball era to a time of heightened offensive production. Carlton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest pitchers in the sport's history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
329 244 741 709 254 55 2 5217.3 4672 1864 414 1833 4136 3.22 0

Career ERA 3.22 vs. league average 3.72 across their career seasons — 13.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1965 STL NL 0 0 15 2 0 0 0 25.0 27 7 8 21 2.52 3.50 (+28%) -
1966 STL NL 3 3 9 9 2 1 0 52.0 56 18 18 25 3.12 3.52 (+12%) -
1967 STL NL 14 9 30 28 11 2 1 193.0 173 64 62 168 2.98 3.30 (+10%) -
1968 STL NL 13 11 34 33 10 5 0 231.7 214 77 61 162 2.99 2.98 (avg) -
1969 STL NL 17 11 31 31 12 2 0 236.3 185 57 93 210 2.17 3.61 (+40%) -
1970 STL NL 10 19 34 33 13 2 0 253.7 239 105 109 193 3.73 3.89 (+4%) -
1971 STL NL 20 9 37 36 18 4 0 273.3 275 108 98 172 3.56 3.47 (-3%) -
1972 PHI NL 27 10 41 41 30 8 0 346.3 257 76 87 310 1.97 3.26 (+40%) 11638.5
1973 PHI NL 13 20 40 40 18 3 0 293.3 293 127 113 223 3.90 3.75 (-4%) 1782.3
1974 PHI NL 16 13 39 39 17 1 0 291.0 249 104 136 240 3.22 3.63 (+11%) 2365.9
1975 PHI NL 15 14 37 37 14 3 0 255.3 217 101 104 192 3.56 3.71 (+4%) 1076.0
1976 PHI NL 20 7 35 35 13 2 0 252.7 224 88 72 195 3.13 3.51 (+11%) 3859.4
1977 PHI NL 23 10 36 36 17 2 0 283.0 229 83 89 198 2.64 4.00 (+34%) 3934.3
1978 PHI NL 16 13 34 34 12 3 0 247.3 228 78 63 161 2.84 3.69 (+23%) 173.2
1979 PHI NL 18 11 35 35 13 4 0 251.0 202 101 89 213 3.62 4.00 (+10%) 3621.2
1980 PHI NL 24 9 38 38 13 3 0 304.0 243 79 90 286 2.34 3.84 (+39%) 11480.7
1981 PHI NL 13 4 24 24 10 1 0 190.0 152 51 62 179 2.42 3.58 (+33%) 6203.9
1982 PHI NL 23 11 38 38 19 6 0 295.7 253 102 86 286 3.10 3.86 (+20%) 11375.9
1983 PHI NL 15 16 37 37 8 3 0 283.7 277 98 84 275 3.11 3.87 (+20%) 9153.5
1984 PHI NL 13 7 33 33 1 0 0 229.0 214 91 79 163 3.58 3.81 (+6%) 3816.7
1985 PHI NL 1 8 16 16 0 0 0 92.0 84 34 53 48 3.33 3.89 (+15%) -758.0
1986 PHI NL 4 8 16 16 0 0 0 83.0 102 57 45 62 6.18 3.97 (-56%) -2702.3
1986 SFG NL 1 3 6 6 0 0 0 30.0 36 17 16 18 5.10 3.97 (-28%) -
1986 CHW AL 4 3 10 10 0 0 0 63.3 58 26 25 40 3.69 3.97 (+7%) -
1987 CLE AL 5 9 23 14 3 0 1 109.0 111 65 63 71 5.37 4.29 (-25%) -3040.4
1987 MIN AL 1 5 9 7 0 0 0 43.0 54 32 23 20 6.70 4.29 (-56%) -1635.2
1988 MIN AL 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 9.7 20 18 5 5 16.76 3.73 (-349%) 0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
745 1719 123 346 49 6 13 140 2 41 413 0.201 0.223 0.259 0.482 -8563.8

Career AVG .201 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 21.2% below league average.

Career OBP .223 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — 30.7% below league average.

Career SLG .259 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 31.6% below league average.

Career OPS 0.482 vs. league average 0.701 across their career seasons — 31.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1965 STL NL 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1966 STL NL 9 15 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.267 — — — — 0.0
1967 STL NL 30 72 5 11 2 0 0 3 0 3 28 0.153 .242 (-37%) .306 (-39%) .357 (-49%) .663 (-45%) -501.6
1968 STL NL 35 73 6 12 0 1 2 3 0 0 25 0.164 .236 (-31%) .298 (-45%) .340 (-19%) .638 (-31%) -373.7
1969 STL NL 32 80 5 17 4 1 1 7 0 3 27 0.212 .248 (-14%) .320 (-25%) .369 (-12%) .689 (-18%) -261.4
1970 STL NL 34 80 4 16 2 0 0 4 1 1 28 0.200 .253 (-21%) .325 (-24%) .385 (-42%) .711 (-34%) -437.6
1971 STL NL 37 96 5 17 4 0 0 8 0 4 31 0.177 .249 (-29%) .316 (-34%) .365 (-40%) .682 (-37%) -585.6
1972 PHI NL 41 117 6 23 3 1 1 8 0 5 31 0.197 .243 (-19%) .310 (-24%) .353 (-25%) .664 (-25%) -473.4
1973 PHI NL 40 100 6 16 2 0 2 5 0 2 19 0.160 .256 (-38%) .325 (-46%) .378 (-37%) .703 (-41%) -717.4
1974 PHI NL 39 102 7 25 3 0 0 9 0 0 16 0.245 .256 (-5%) .324 (-27%) .369 (-26%) .693 (-26%) -485.6
1975 PHI NL 37 90 8 14 2 0 0 9 0 5 24 0.156 .257 (-40%) .327 (-39%) .374 (-52%) .701 (-46%) -689.3
1976 PHI NL 35 92 5 20 1 0 0 6 0 1 24 0.217 .255 (-15%) .320 (-24%) .360 (-37%) .681 (-31%) -451.2
1977 PHI NL 36 97 7 26 4 0 3 15 0 2 20 0.268 .264 (+1%) .329 (-14%) .401 (avg) .730 (-6%) -153.4
1978 PHI NL 34 86 7 25 3 1 0 13 0 3 14 0.291 .257 (+13%) .323 (-4%) .378 (-8%) .702 (-6%) -103.5
1979 PHI NL 36 94 9 21 3 0 0 10 1 3 17 0.223 .265 (-16%) .329 (-23%) .397 (-36%) .727 (-30%) -488.8
1980 PHI NL 38 101 7 19 1 0 0 6 0 1 21 0.188 .264 (-29%) .326 (-42%) .387 (-49%) .714 (-46%) -807.8
1981 PHI NL 24 67 5 9 2 2 0 4 0 2 16 0.134 .255 (-47%) .320 (-50%) .368 (-39%) .688 (-44%) -498.7
1982 PHI NL 38 101 8 22 4 0 2 8 0 0 13 0.218 .261 (-17%) .324 (-33%) .388 (-18%) .712 (-25%) -447.1
1983 PHI NL 37 97 9 19 5 0 0 1 0 2 20 0.196 .260 (-25%) .324 (-35%) .389 (-36%) .714 (-36%) -592.6
1984 PHI NL 34 84 8 16 2 0 1 10 0 2 20 0.190 .259 (-27%) .322 (-35%) .384 (-35%) .707 (-35%) -495.0
1985 PHI NL 16 28 2 5 1 0 0 3 0 1 8 0.179 — — — — 0.0
1986 PHI NL 16 34 3 7 1 0 0 5 0 1 4 0.206 — — — — 0.0
1986 SFG NL 6 11 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 3 0.182 — — — — 0.0
1986 CHW AL 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 CLE AL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 MIN AL 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1988 MIN AL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
16 27 2 6 0 0 1 5 0 7 0.222

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1983 NLCS PHI 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.200
1983 WS PHI 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
1981 NEDIV PHI 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.250
1980 NLCS PHI 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
1980 WS PHI 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1978 NLCS PHI 1 4 2 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 0.500
1977 NLCS PHI 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0.500
1976 NLCS PHI 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1968 WS SLN 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1967 WS SLN 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
6 6 16 14 0 99.3 96 36 51 84 3.26

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1983 NLCS PHI 2 0 2 2 0 13.7 13 1 5 13 0.66
1983 WS PHI 0 1 1 1 0 6.7 5 2 3 7 2.70
1981 NEDIV PHI 0 2 2 2 0 14.0 14 6 8 13 3.86
1980 NLCS PHI 1 0 2 2 0 12.3 11 3 8 6 2.19
1980 WS PHI 2 0 2 2 0 15.0 14 4 9 17 2.40
1978 NLCS PHI 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 8 4 2 8 4.00
1977 NLCS PHI 0 1 2 2 0 11.7 13 9 8 6 6.94
1976 NLCS PHI 0 1 1 1 0 7.0 8 4 5 6 5.14
1968 WS SLN 0 0 2 0 0 4.0 7 3 1 3 6.75
1967 WS SLN 0 1 1 1 0 6.0 3 0 2 5 0.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 741 709 109 724 42 36

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1965 SLN P 15 2 1 6 0 1
1966 SLN P 9 9 2 10 0 2
1967 SLN P 30 28 8 30 2 3
1968 SLN P 34 33 4 39 3 1
1969 SLN P 31 31 1 34 3 1
1970 SLN P 34 33 6 38 4 1
1971 SLN P 37 36 11 40 0 3
1972 PHI P 41 41 8 37 2 3
1973 PHI P 40 40 4 42 5 3
1974 PHI P 39 39 6 42 4 1
1975 PHI P 37 37 10 32 1 4
1976 PHI P 35 35 4 19 0 2
1977 PHI P 36 36 4 52 1 2
1978 PHI P 34 34 5 46 3 1
1979 PHI P 35 35 3 32 5 0
1980 PHI P 38 38 2 42 0 1
1981 PHI P 24 24 3 22 0 0
1982 PHI P 38 38 6 37 4 2
1983 PHI P 37 37 4 37 4 0
1984 PHI P 33 33 7 22 0 0
1985 PHI P 16 16 3 18 0 1
1986 PHI P 16 16 2 8 0 1
1986 SFN P 6 6 1 8 0 0
1986 CHA P 10 10 1 7 0 1
1987 CLE P 23 14 2 15 1 1
1987 MIN P 9 7 1 8 0 1
1988 MIN P 4 1 0 1 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 741

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1982 Cy Young Award
1982 TSN All-Star LHP
1982 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1981 Gold Glove P
1980 Cy Young Award
1980 Pitcher of the Month May
1980 Player of the Week Week of 1980-06-20
1980 TSN All-Star LHP
1980 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-07-06
1979 TSN All-Star LHP
1977 Cy Young Award
1977 Player of the Week Week of 1977-08-05
1977 TSN All-Star LHP
1977 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1972 Cy Young Award
1972 Pitching Triple Crown
1972 TSN All-Star LHP
1972 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1971 TSN All-Star LHP
1969 TSN All-Star LHP

Featured In Rankings

#13
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 13 of 25
→

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1988 MIN AL $115,000
1986 CHA AL $60,000
1986 PHI NL $1,000,000
1985 PHI NL $1,075,000
Total Career Earnings $2,250,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Miami-Dade College - North Campus Miami FL 1963

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1982 Cy Young Award NL 1st 112.0 120 20
1982 Most Valuable Player NL 9th 41.0 336 0
1981 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 50.0 120 5
1981 Most Valuable Player NL 9th 41.0 336 0
1980 Cy Young Award NL 1st 118.0 120 23
1980 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 134.0 336 0
1977 Cy Young Award NL 1st 104.0 120 17
1977 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 100.0 336 0
1976 Cy Young Award NL 4th 11.0 120 0
1976 Most Valuable Player NL 15th 16.0 336 0
1972 Cy Young Award NL 1st 120.0 120 24
1972 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 124.0 336 1