Early injuries killed promising Dominican baseball star Rico Carty on Saturday. He was 85 years old.
News of his death was reported by Major League Baseball and one of his former teams, the Atlanta Braves. They did not give a cause or say where he died.
After a dazzlingly hot start in the major leagues, including a stellar rookie year, Carty’s progress was hampered by broken bones, hamstring problems and even tuberculosis. Carty, who stood 6 feet 3 inches tall and called himself ‘Beeg Boy,’ nevertheless played well into his 40s, amassing 1,677 hits and 204 home runs. Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty was born on September 1, 1939 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. His father Leopoldo worked in a sugar factory, and his mother Olivia was a midwife. He had 15 brothers and sisters.
After trying his hand at boxing, Carty focused on baseball and soon attracted the attention of major league scouts as a catcher.
“I had no idea how serious the offer really was,” he told Baseball Prospectus in 2008. “I said yes to everyone who gave me one in case the others didn’t work out. I ended up signing with nine major league teams and three winter ball teams.”
His rights were eventually given to the Milwaukee Braves organization in 1959, and the team (now the Atlanta Braves) converted him to an outfielder.
His first full season in 1964 was a memorable one. Playing primarily left field, Carty had a batting average of .330, second in the majors behind future Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, and hit 22 home runs.
However, he missed most of the 1965 season due to back problems. He returned in 1966, the Braves’ first season in Atlanta, and hit .326. However, he performed poorly in 1967 and missed all of 1968 due to tuberculosis.
A separated shoulder kept him out of the game in 1969, but he was able to play in Atlanta’s best-of-five National League Championship Series win over the New York Mets. His only postseason appearance was 3-for-10 with 4 runs scored, but the Braves were swept in 3 games as New York, remembered as the ‘Miracle Mets’, won the World Series.
As if making up for lost time, Carty got off to an incredible start in late May 1970, posting an unfathomable batting average of .436.
However, because the All-Star voting was finalized over the winter, his name was not included. Fans mounted a write-in campaign and he received more than 500,000 votes, enough to earn him the third starting spot in the National League outfield, joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Carty told The New York Times in July of that year: “I never thought I would have a chance. “I am indescribably grateful to the fans who wrote my name for their hard work,” he said. In 1974, Steve Garvey was the only player elected by write-in vote.
Few would have guessed it at the time, but Carty’s 1970 All-Star selection became his only selection. He wasn’t able to stay as hot as he did in April and May, but he did lead the league in batting average for the only time of his career with a .366 average. But that momentum was broken in 1971 when he suffered a broken leg and missed the entire season.
That August, Carty got into an altercation with two off-duty police officers in Atlanta, one of whom, he said, spoke to him using a racial slur. A uniformed police officer intervened, leaving Carty with two black eyes and bruises. Atlanta Mayor Sam Marshall said the officers used “blatant brutality” and all three were fired. The charges against Carty were dismissed.
After missing most of the 1972 season due to injury, he was traded to the Texas Rangers. The timing seemed good. Texas is in the American League, and that season introduced the position of designated hitter, a player who usually bats in place of the pitcher but is not required to field.
Carty seemed like a natural for the role. An accomplished batsman, he often struggled in the field. He settled in as the Rangers’ designated hitter, although he said he preferred playing the outfield. However, his poor batting cost him his job, he was sent to the Chicago Cubs, and he finished the year with his third team, the Oakland Athletics.
That was the beginning of an odyssey, jumping from team to team. His additional major league stops were Cleveland and Toronto. In Atlanta, he brawled with teammates Ron Reed in 1970 and Aaron in 1972. The fight was seen as emblematic of his inability to get along with his teammates and, along with his inconsistent form and injury problems, contributed to his numerous trades. Later part of his career.
A 2018 biography from the Society for American Baseball Research states, “He was an equal opportunity combatant and had physical and/or verbal altercations with teammates, managers, umpires, fans, local police, and at least one front office. .” he said.
In 1979, his final season in Toronto, Carty was batting .256 and accidentally stabbed himself with a toothpick when he reached into his carry-on bag. He was released in March 1980 at the age of 40, and his career was over.
After baseball, he ran Fundacion Rico Carty, an organization that helped solve poverty in the Dominican Republic.
Complete information about survivors was not immediately available.
Even through injuries and setbacks, one thing has always remained true. When Carty was healthy, he could hit a baseball.
When asked by Forbes in 2019 about faster pitches in modern football, Carty responded: “You think Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Dick Allen, Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda can’t hit this pitch?
“I will kill you.”
