The first season he was with the Phillies, he won 27 Games…on a team that only won 59 all year. This was the last time that anyone in the NL has won 25 Games. The man dubbed “Lefty” may not have had another season like ’72, but he still had more excellent campaigns in him and he would add three more Cy Youngs to his first one.
Carlton was a bit of an eccentric figure who trained in a unique fashion and decided early in his tenure to disassociate himself with all media. While this certainly made him a little hard to write about if you were a beat writer, he gave fans so much to watch. In addition to winning 241 Games for Philly, he struck out 3,031 batters. He still has the career record for whiffs by a lefthander. More importantly, he matched something he accomplished in St. Louis…he helped Philadelphia win a World Series.
In 1988, the Phillies added Carlton to their Wall of Fame and retired his number 32 a year later. Carlton entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
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