Former All-Star Rico Carty passed away yesterday, according to a report from Dominican newspaper Listin Diario. The 15-year MLB veteran was 85 years old.
Born in San Pedro de Macoris, Carty signed with the then-Milwaukee Braves prior to the 1960 season as a catcher. During his time in the minor leagues, he converted to the outfield and, after a brief cup of coffee in 1963, emerged as the Braves’ regular left fielder during the 1964 season. In 133 games, Carty slashed an excellent .330/.388/.554 with 22 homers and 28 doubles. That excellent season earned him a second place finish behind Phillies infielder Dick Allen in Rookie of the Year voting. Back issues limited Carty to just 83 games the following year, though he continued to hit well when healthy enough to take the field.
Following the Braves’ relocation to Atlanta in 1966, Carty remained a fixture of the club’s lineup. He hit well during the club’s first year in Atlanta but slumped somewhat the following year as he slashed a relatively tepid .255/.329/.401 that, while decent, fell well short of his typical standards as a hitter. Carty then proceeded to miss the 1968 season due to a tuberculosis diagnosis. The ailment wiped out his entire season, but the slugger managed to recovery in time to return to the Braves early in May of 1969. Upon his return, he enjoyed the best offensive season of his career to that point with an excellent .342/.401/.549 slash line in 104 games.
After impressing in his return from illness the previous year, the 1970 season saw Carty reach his peak in his first full season back after recovering from tuberculosis. Then in his age-30 season, the slugger slashed an incredible .366/.454/.584 as he slugged 25 homers and 23 doubles while leading the league in both batting average and on-base percentage across 136 games. The superlative season saw Carty named an All-Star for the first and only time in his career and led him to a tenth-place finish in NL MVP voting behind titans of the game such as Johnny Bench, Billy Williams, Bob Gibson, and Willie McCovey.
Before Carty could follow up on that excellent season, however, he suffered a disastrous knee injury while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. He underwent surgery and tried to return to action in time for Spring Training 1971, but ultimately missed the entire season due to the injury. He returned to the lineup in 1972 but struggled to stay healthy once again and found himself limited to 86 games as he hit .277/.378/.408 with just six homers. That was Carty’s final season in a Braves uniform, as he was traded to the Rangers in October 1972.
The 1973 season was a tumultuous one for Carty. After suffering a fractured jaw while playing winter ball in the offseason, he began the season as the first regular DH in Rangers history but hit just .232/.311/.301 in 86 games with the club and bounced from the Cubs to the A’s throughout the remainder of the season after being placed on waivers. Those struggles seemed as though they may be the end of Carty’s career, but he caught fire after signing with the Mexican League’s Cafeteros de Cordoba. That excellent play in Mexico earned him another chance in the big leagues, as Cleveland brass decided to sign him to return to the big leagues.
It’s a gamble that wound up paying off, as Carty would spend four seasons in Ohio. From his signing in 1974 to his departure following the 1978 season, Carty slashed an excellent .303/.372/.455 with 47 homers and 81 doubles as the club’s regular DH. His best season in Cleveland came in 1976, when he slashed .310/.379/.442 and earned some down ballot consideration for the AL MVP award. Carty was traded to the Blue Jays (who had briefly selected him in the 1976 expansion draft before quickly trading him back to Cleveland that same offseason) prior to the 1978 season, and he continued to provide value as he slashed .282/.348/.502 with a career-best 31 homers at the age of 38 in a season split between Toronto and Oakland.
Carty’s big league career came to a close in 1979, when he hit .256/.322/.390 in 132 games for the Blue Jays. He later worked for Toronto as a scout in Latin America and was inducted to the Braves Hall of Fame in 2023. Overall, the 15-year veteran was a career .299/.369/.464 hitter in the big leagues and collected 1677 hits, including 204 home runs, during his time as a major leaguer. MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in extending our condolences to Carty’s family, friends, loved ones, and fans.
RIP one of my favourites
RIP Beeg Boy.
RIP to an on base king.
Rico never “took the mound.”
The Beeg Boy could heet! Was cleanup hitter behind the Hammer for years.
And according to Howard Bryant’s biography of Aaron, he also annoyed Hank for years.
As soon as I read that he “hit well when healthy enough to take the mound” I knew without looking that this was a Nick Deeds article.
That’s just careless, and yes, it’s typical of his writing. TC Zencka would be proud.
What a great hitter. Injuries kept him from the hall of fame.
The fact that this dude finished 10th in the MVP voting with a.366/.454/.584 line and 25 bombs is proof that he played during baseball’s greatest era.
He would have finished 2nd in both leagues in 2024 with those numbers, too. So, while you might be right, that is not the proof.
draker: All it proves is that the talent back then wasn’t as diluted as it is today, where a .270 BA is considered “excellent”.
When the league batting average hovers around .245 every year, then yes, a .270 average is indeed very good. I don’t think anyone considers it excellent. Why is this so hard for some of you to understand?
MVP voting was really bad back in those days, like in 1962 when they gave it to Maury Wills over Mays for breaking the stolen base record. Feats like that, and the HR-RBI-AVG and WINS-ERA numbers were all that mattered to the old-school writers and voters.
Maybe so but when the guys ahead of him included Bench, Gibson, McCovey and Billy Williams it shows how stacked MLB was during Carty’s career, especially the NL.
My 1970 MVP is Billy Williams. Johnny Bench won the BBAA MVP. Both were better than Rico Carty in his best season. Carty was a horrible defensive OF which, along with his oft poor health, kept him from getting more playing time.
It partly reflects the fact that back then voters put a lot of emphasis on players who helped their team get to the playoffs or at least contend for the title. The Braves were below .500 that season. If the Braves win their division Carty probably finishes in the top three.
RIP Rico.
Ricardo (Rico) Carty, a legend in DR, RIP.
A great player from my childhood. Enjoyed watching him play. RIP Rico.
“Rico”. Cool baseball name. RIP. Condolences to family.
I was definitely lazer focused on the Orioles back then. Plus non existent social media outlets detered knowing much about quality players like him.
The only way I knew he was legit back then was by reading the data on the back of his bubble gum card. I might just dust the cover off my card collection and take a trip back memory lane.
One of my non-Cub favs from my childhood. RIP Rico! Injuries robbed him – he had Hall of Fame talent.
Yes! And also one of my stock answers to Immaculate Grid with the intersection of the Cubs and a handful of teams.
HOF talent is the perfect description. Too bad his career was so often derailed by injuries/health issues. But for a guy with TB at a young age, to live to 85 is really an accomplishment.
Rico was born too early. The AL didn’t adopt the DH until he was 33. If the DH had existed when he broke in no doubt he would have been in the Hall of Fame. Not a particularly good OF. And he would have made enough money that he wouldn’t have needed to play winter ball where he got hurt several times. RIP
Very solid career. RIP!!
Condolences to his family. He was a terrific hitter!
The Mets couldn’t get him out .
I have to go read 1969 NLCS stats now!
I do not enjoy people dying, because obviously that sucks, but I do enjoy these retrospective articles when they do inevitably pass on for introducing me to interesting players from well before my time that don’t get talked about as much as the Bob Gibsons and Mickey Mantles of the world.
Dude was a beast. RIP.
Rico could hit. Injuries really kept him from having the career he was capable of.He was talented. Sad day. RIP.
RIP
Good bye, Beeg Boy.
Rico could hit. And when he was healthy he could hit every pitcher, any pitch, to any part of the field. R.I..P. Beeg Boy.
Borderline HOFer had TB and injuries not robbed him of 2-1/2 prime seasons.
RIP Rico.
Loved this guy, quiet…let his bat do the talking for some great years. Saw him a couple times in Chicago. Health and injury issues kept him out of many full seasons. Blessings to his family.
From what I’ve heard he wasn’t quiet.
On the field…like most all of them back then. A certain rarity back in those days to see a guy belt a home run, then stand there and watch, or taunt the pitcher. Way different era. Off the field, yes, have heard and read of things
One of those players who suffered through some nasty injuries. No telling how good he could have been. Condolences to your family and friends. RIP Mr. Carty.
Looking at his Wikipedia page. He played for the Rangers,Cubs and A’s in 1973. It says he had a “personality clash” with Ron Santo which forced the cubs to trade him to Oakland. That’s honestly crazy to read that. I would’ve thought Ron Santo was such a likeable guy never heard anything bad about him.
Hopefully now they can get along as they reunite. Rest in Paradise Rico.
@Logjammer: Doubt the “personality clash” was all Santos’ fault. Carty also famously got into a fistfight over a card game w/one of the most affable men in baseball—–Henry Aaron.
It seemed like a good landing spot for Carty in ’73 – goes to the WS champion team earns a ring instead of remaining with Cubs
Ron Santo was kept out of the HOF because of his personality. Nobody liked him, ask Don Young, a teammate he ridiculed.
I heard other stories of why he was kept out. Don’t know how true it is but I heard Mike Schmidt wanted to keep Santo out. From what I saw over the years in the radio booth Santo was one of the most likeable people to be around
Good player. I remember him from my teen and young adult years.
Might want to fix “though he continued to hit well when healthy enough to take the mound.”
So, this guy was special as a hitter, and if not for major health issues, the sky was the limit to his career. His path was similar to Fred Lynn’s maybe?
That is a pretty good comp.
Ricardo Aldopho Jacobo Carty! The Beeg Boy. One of my favorites after the Braves moved to Atlanta! RIP!!
Great career only if he skipped some of those bad winter ball sessions, he would have had a better resume for HOF. At least he played with Hank Aaron, got a WS ring with A’s
Only caught tail end of career w/Blue Jay’s, he could mash RIP Rico
How could you not like Rico Carty. Filled up the stat sheets when he played and he loved to play.
I have a PSA graded mint 9 Topps baseball card of him in 1971. What a smile.
RIP Rico.
RIP. One of the best pure hitters of the Era. Injuries certainly played a big part in curtailing a possible HOF career.
RIP Rico…..
I saw Rico play for the Rangers in 1973 in the old Arlington Stadium (my first MLB game-the grass was so green!) and he was such a gem! That was a great day…..
Rest in plush n. Mayne I’d be bettin dat even as of yesterday he could have given a club 2-3 hits maybe a dong or two and a couple stolen b’s. He was dat good!
The Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlanski.
There’s plenty more about Carty in this book.
Joe Morgan said Rico Carty was one of the hardest hitters he ever seen.
My 1964 Rookie All Team:
C WSA Mike Brumley
1B PHI Dick Allen
2B KCA Dick Green
3B SFG Jim Ray Hart
SS WSA John Kennedy
LF MLN Rico Carty
CF CHC Billy Cowan
RF MIN Tony Oliva
DH BAL Sam Bowan
SP BAL Wally Bunker
SP CLE Luis Tiant
SP SFG Ron Herbel
SP CLE Sonny Siebert
SP WSA Buster Narum
RP CAL Bob Lee
RP CIN Sammy Ellis*
RP CIN Billy McCool*
RP NYY Pete Mikkelsen
RP NYN Bill Wakefield