Phillies Alumni: Start of Carlton's historic season
Two quality pitchers were traded for each other because they couldn’t agree on a contract with their original clubs. The record shows on Feb. 25, 1972, left-hander Steve Carlton was acquired by the Phillies from the Cardinals for right-hander Rick Wise.
"Auggie Busch traded me to the last-place Phillies over a salary dispute ($5,000). I was mentally committed to winning 25 games with the Cardinals and now I had to re-think my goals. I decided to stay with the 25-win goal and won 27 of the Phillies' 59 victories. I consider that season my finest individual achievement.” -- Steve Carlton.
Without a doubt 1972 was Carlton’s finest season. Pitching for a team that finished last (59-97), Lefty became “Super Steve” turning Veterans Stadium into an arena filled with electricity whenever he pitched. Larry Bowa said it best, “When Lefty went to the mound it is Winday.”
What follows is a capsule of Lefty’s April starts, the first segment in a season-long rewind of 50 years ago.
Start # 1 (1-0)
April 15: 4-2 win over the Cubs in Wrigley Field in the season opener. Losing pitcher: Ferguson Jenkins . . . Phillies lineup: Bowa, SS; McCarver, C; Montanez, CF; Johnson, 1B; Luzinski, LF; Money, 3B; Anderson, RF; Doyle 2B; Carlton, P.
Carlton hadn’t pitched because of the two-week player strike that delayed the start of the season.
“I expected to go 4-5 innings. After the fourth inning, Rip (pitching coach Ray Rippelmeyer) asked me how I felt, and I really didn’t feel too hot. But after that, I got in a groove, and I got better and better. The cold weather helped. I’m a cold-weather pitcher. One thing I’m not going to miss about St. Louis is those hot summers.”
“Steve’s a fantastic competitor. And the thing is, he’s just a baby—not even approaching his prime,” said Tim McCarver.
Start #2 (2-0)
April 19: Veterans Stadium debut. Throwing a career-low 90 pitches, blanked former team on three singles, 1-0, before 8,184 fans. Beat friend Bob Gibson in a game that took 1 hour, 33 minutes.
“When Timmy (McCarver) says I was winding up before I got the sign, that’s because I already shook off the first two signs. We were only going with three pitches, so I didn’t see any sense in waiting for a third sign. We both knew what the pitch was going to be,” said Carlton.
Start #3 (3-0)
April 25: Brilliant 3-0 win in Candlestick; one hit, one walk, 14 strikeouts in defeating the Giants' Juan Marichal. The 14 strikeouts matched Chris Short’s club record for a left-hander in a nine-inning game. SS Chris Speier led off the bottom of the first with a single to center on the second pitch. Lefty retired the next 16 batters, allowed one walk and retired the final 11.
Carlton abandoned throwing a slider in 1970. After a 1972 Spring Training chat with coach Ripplemeyer, Lefty decided to return it to his arsenal.
“Watching him warm up tonight, he had an excellent fastball, curve and slider. First time I ever rated a pitcher excellent on all three,” said Rippelmeyer.
“He had great control on the inside of the plate to right-handers. As a rule, we don’t pitch in there that much. But his location was exceptional. His slider was great. Sometimes it will come in on the hitter, other times it will come in and down. He threw some that were unhittable,” said McCarver.
Start #4 (3-1)
April 29: 4-0 loss to the Padres in San Diego; two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings. Seventh-inning runs ended 24 consecutive scoreless innings.
“I’ve already forgotten this one. I’m already concentrating on winning the next one,” said Carlton.
(Next segment: A 5-game losing streak in May.)