Steve Carlton days

It's Steve Carlton days until Opening Day

Lefty did pretty much everything. He’s fourth on the all-time strikeout list today but there was a time when he and Nolan Ryan traded the all-time top spot back and forth (before Carlton got old and Ryan did not). He once struck out 19 in one game, a record at the time (but lost the game). He hit a home run and pitched a shutout in the same game – four times.

His craziest season had to be 1972, with the Phillies. He started 41 games and completed 30 of them (eight shutouts). He struck out 310 guys with a 3.56 K/BB ratio. His WHIP was 0.993, and his ERA was 1.97. He won 27 games – the Phillies won 59 total.

Lefty was one of the last Manly Men: he’s the last guy to throw 300 innings in a season (304 in 1980).

Carlton is the all-time leader in one statistical category: pickoffs. He has far and away the most, with 144. Andy Pettitte is second, with 99.