10 amazing Steve Carlton stats

Steve Carlton was known simply as "Lefty." And what a lefty he was when on a Major League mound from 1965-88. The Hall of Fame left-hander is in some pretty elite company among the all-time greatest pitchers in baseball history. Here's a look at 10 amazing Carlton stats.

Complete-ly dominant

Carlton is one of 26 pitchers in the Live Ball Era (1920-present) to throw 30 or more complete games in a single season -- he accomplished the feat in his 1972 National League Cy Young campaign, when he completed 30 starts in his debut season with the Phillies. He also won 27 games (one of 22 pitchers to win at least that many games in the Live Ball Era) and posted a 1.97 ERA in 346 1/3 innings.

Lefty Legend

Carlton's 1972 NL Cy Young Award was just the first of four he would win in his career -- he also won the honor in 1977, '80 and '82. Only three other pitchers in baseball history have won four or more Cy Young Awards -- Roger Clemens (seven), Randy Johnson (four) and Greg Maddux (four). And the last pair of Carlton's Cy Young Awards came in his age-35 and age-37 seasons, respectively.

Strikeout savant

Only three pitchers in MLB history struck out more batters in their careers than Carlton, who fanned 4,136 -- Nolan Ryan (5,714), Randy Johnson (4,875) and Roger Clemens (4,672). On Sept. 15, 1969 against the Mets in St. Louis, Carlton set a career high with 19 strikeouts in a game, which was a nine-inning-game record at the time, and is currently second all-time. Despite the incredible performance, the Cardinals lost that game, 4-3.

Fantastic FIP

Only seven pitchers in the Live Ball Era finished with a lower FIP (minimum 3,000 innings pitched) than Carlton's 3.15 -- Bob Gibson (2.89), Nolan Ryan (2.97), Don Drysdale (3.02), Tom Seaver (3.04), Juan Marichal (3.04), Gaylord Perry (3.06) and Roger Clemens (3.09).

Just a winner

Carlton won 329 games during his 24-year career. Only three pitchers in the Live Ball Era won more -- Warren Spahn (363), Greg Maddux (355) and Roger Clemens (354) are the only hurlers with more.

Dominant, but also durable

Only five pitchers in the Live Ball Era threw more innings than Carlton's 5,217 2/3 -- Phil Niekro (5,404), Nolan Ryan (5,386), Gaylord Perry (5,350), Don Sutton (5,282 1/3) and Warren Spahn (5,243 2/3). Carlton threw more than 200 innings in a season 16 times, and completed more than 300 innings in a season twice. He led the league in innings pitched five times, and led all of baseball twice.

Batter up!

Carlton faced 21,683 batters over his Hall of Fame career. The only pitchers in the Modern Era (since 1900) to face more are Walter Johnson (23,405), Phil Niekro (22,677), Nolan Ryan (22,575) and Gaylord Perry (21,953).

Philly phenom

Carlton began his career with the Cardinals in 1965, and was very good for St. Louis through '71, posting a 3.10 ERA (114 ERA+) over 1,265 1/3 innings. But he turned into a legend in Philadelphia -- from 1972-85 with the Phillies, Carlton won all four of his Cy Young Awards and posted a 2.96 ERA (126 ERA+) and 1.18 WHIP.

Wild but effective in October

Carlton posted a 3.26 ERA in 16 career postseason appearances (14 starts), but that was in spite of a tendency to walk batters in October -- he walked 51 in 99 1/3 innings, while striking out 84. That led to a 1.48 postseason WHIP. But if it works, you can't complain -- he won a World Series title with the Cardinals in 1967 and helped lead the Phillies to a World Series championship in 1980.

Invaluable

Only ten pitchers in the Live Ball ERA produced more Baseball Reference wins above replacement than Carlton's 84.1 -- Roger Clemens (138.7), Lefty Grove (113.3), Tom Seaver (106), Greg Maddux (104.8), Randy Johnson (103.5), Phil Niekro (97), Bert Blyleven (96.1), Gaylord Perry (93), Warren Spahn (92.5) and Pedro Martinez (86.1).