 |
 |
Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty
Atlanta Braves
Outfield
Born: September 1, 1939, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent, October 24, 1959
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1963-65; Atlanta Braves 1966-67, 1969-70, 1972; Texas Rangers 1973; Chicago Cubs 1973; Oakland Athletics 1973; Cleveland Indians 1974-77; Toronto Blue Jays 1978; Oakland Athletics 1978; Toronto Blue Jays 1979
Died: November 23, 2024, Atlanta, GA (age 85)
Rico Carty battled injuries, illness and a lack of defensive skills to become one of the best hitters of the 1960s and early 1970s. He had a fantastic rookie season in 1964, batting .330 with 22 home runs and 88 RBIs and finishing as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year award to Dick Allen (#350). His average that season placed him second in the league behind Roberto Clemente (#50) for the batting title. Carty settled in as the regular left fielder for the Braves over the next several seasons, but missed the entire 1968 season while recovering from tuberculosis. He had a career year in 1970, being named to the All-Star Game as a write-in candidate and starting in the same outfield as Hank Aaron (#100) and Willie Mays (#190). Carty won the league's batting title with a .366 average, while hitting 25 home runs and driving in 101 runs. He also put together a 31-game hitting streak during the year.
Rico Carty battled injuries, illness and a lack of defensive skills to become one of the best hitters of the 1960s and early 1970s. He had a fantastic rookie season in 1964, batting .330 with 22 home runs and 88 RBIs and finishing as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year award to Dick Allen (#350). His average that season placed him second in the league behind Roberto Clemente (#50) for the batting title. Carty settled in as the regular left fielder for the Braves over the next several seasons, but missed the entire 1968 season while recovering from tuberculosis. He had a career year in 1970, being named to the All-Star Game as a write-in candidate and starting in the same outfield as Hank Aaron (#100) and Willie Mays (#190). Carty won the league's batting title with a .366 average, while hitting 25 home runs and driving in 101 runs. He also put together a 31-game hitting streak during the year.
Carty would unfortunately miss the entire 1971 season following a gruesome knee injury suffered after colliding with Dominican League teammate Matty Alou (#490) in a winter league game on December 11, 1970. He battled back from the injury but it would be several years before his offensive output came anywhere close to pre-injury levels. With the arrival of the designated hitter, Carty settled into that role during the final six seasons of his big league career, driving in at least 80 runs three years in a row between 1976 and 1978. With the Blue Jays and Athletics in 1978, he enjoyed his last great season, batting .282 with 31 home runs and 99 RBIs. Carty retired after 1,651 games with 1,677 hits, a .299 average, 204 home runs and 890 RBIs. He was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in their inaugural class of 1996.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #497
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Recovered from his bout with tuberculosis, Carty still wasn't immune to the injury bug, missing time early in the season with a dislocated shoulder. In 104 games, he batted .342 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs, helping to lead the Braves to the first National League West pennant. He was particularly hot down the stretch, and he had the game-winning RBI in the pennant clinching game for the Braves. The Braves fell in the NLCS to the Mets, but Carty batted .300 with a pair of doubles in the only postseason action of his career. He was the runner-up for the National League's Comeback Player of the Year behind Tommie Agee (#364).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #476
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1964-73, 1975-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps Rookie Cup #7
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 113 in the Beckett online database as of 5/4/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
Having had success the prior two shows at Uncle Dick's Cards with his well-organized, neon common binders, I opted to pull up a chair once again at the friendly dealer's array of tables. The aim was simple: Clear out Uncle Dick's 1969 Topps commons, starting off where I had left off the year before with card #501 and going through the end of the set, card #664. In less than 25 minutes, I completed my quest, and this is the 53rd of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me less than $3.
Carty's swinging pose and the cropping of the photo work really well with the set's design. Fortunately, it's not often you see the line "ILL - OUT ALL SEASON" on the back of baseball cards in lieu of a line of statistics.
Accuracy Index: Carty's card earns the now standard +5.
1969 Season
Recovered from his bout with tuberculosis, Carty still wasn't immune to the injury bug, missing time early in the season with a dislocated shoulder. In 104 games, he batted .342 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs, helping to lead the Braves to the first National League West pennant. He was particularly hot down the stretch, and he had the game-winning RBI in the pennant clinching game for the Braves. The Braves fell in the NLCS to the Mets, but Carty batted .300 with a pair of doubles in the only postseason action of his career. He was the runner-up for the National League's Comeback Player of the Year behind Tommie Agee (#364).
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #476
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1964-73, 1975-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps Rookie Cup #7
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 113 in the Beckett online database as of 5/4/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#589 Joe Peptone - New York Yankees / #591 Mike Hedlund - Kansas City Royals
No comments:
Post a Comment