The seven years Steve Carlton spent as a Cardinal are often just a footnote in his bio. Most of that comes from how dominate he was as a member of the Phillies and part of that comes from being overshadowed by his teammate while a Redbird, Bob Gibson. Despite living in that long shadow, the 24 year old left-hander would step out from it (and into the darkness of storm clouds) at least for one special night.
Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller and Don Wilson all held the modern MLB record with 18 strikeouts in a game. Steve Carlton would write his name one strikeout better than those men while at the same time claiming a dubious honor. More rare than a Perfect Game, an 18+ strikeout nine inning game has only happened 20 times since 1900. Even rarer is striking out that many batters and losing a nine inning game. Carlton's game is one of only four such games since 1900.
How do we know that this is the Steve Carlton 19 strikeout game? It takes a bit of sleuthing but with the evidence provided, it is pretty conclusive.
The 1968 All-Star Game was the first All-Star game to be played indoors. During a season in which pitching dominated baseball, the All-Star Game was no exception. Willie Mays would lead off the game with a single, promptly stole second and eventually come around to score. This would be the only offense of the game.
Happy New Year to all. This week, I'll be posting a few clips of 1971 St. Louis Cardinals broadcast footage. I will preface this as saying that MLB has already informed me that these come from highlight videos and that actual full game broadcasts do not exist. That's their official statement, take it for what it's worth.
First up, we have a clip of "Lefty" Steve Carlton at Wrigley Field. Before we get into other stuff, let's nail down a few parameters. First off, the two Cardinals in this clip are Joe Torre and Steve Carlton. Both were on the team together from 1969-1971. Furthemore, per uniwatch, the St. Louis Cardinals switched to the pullover tops that Torre and Carlton are both wearing for the first time in the 1971 season. So while Torre was with the Cardinals through the 1974 Season, Steve Carlton painfully was not.
With that in mind, let's get into the action.
