Steve Carlton

Steve Carlton won 74 games in his first five full seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, but a salary dispute forced a trade and “Lefty” became the newest member of the Phillies. Philadelphia was a last-place club and their prospects in Carlton’s first season didn’t look much brighter. Still, Carlton had set his sights on winning 25 games in 1972, and his trade to Philadelphia didn’t alter his agenda. He put together one of the most impressive seasons in baseball history — winning 27 games for a wretched Philadelphia team that only won 59 games overall! Carlton won four Cy Young awards in Philadelphia, while accumulating 10 All-Star game appearances and a pair of championships during his career. Carlton entered the Hall of Fame in 1994 with more strikeouts (4,136) than any left-handed pitcher in history and more wins (329) than any lefty except Warren Spahn.