Joe Carter

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Joseph Christopher Carter (born March 7, 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1983 to 1998, most famous for hitting a walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays trailing 6–5 to the Philadelphia Phillies, just two outs away from a seventh game.

[edit] Career

[edit] College

Joe Carter attended Wichita State University, leaving after his junior year. He was named the Sporting News magazine's College Player of the Year in 1981 ^[1] In the 1981 draft, the Cubs chose him with the second pick of the first round.^[2]

• In 1988, Carter was inducted into the Wichita State University Pizza Hut Shocker Hall of Fame. ^[3]
• In 1999, Carter was inducted into the Missouri Valley Hall of Fame. ^[4]
• In 2008, Carter was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame. ^[5]

[edit] Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians

Carter first reached the majors in 1983 with the Chicago Cubs,^[6] but was then traded to the Cleveland Indians, where he blossomed into a star. Carter emerged as a prolific power hitter, hitting as many as 35 home runs in a season and regularly driving in 100 or more runs. He usually hit a similar amount of doubles as he did homers, and would get respectable numbers of triples in many years, as well. He was also a very good baserunner, stealing 20-30 bases a year with a high rate of success. However, he was not considered a good defensive outfielder, and actually spent an entire season dividing his time between first base and DH, without a single inning in the outfield. The Indians publicly criticized his defense and low batting average after he left.

[edit] San Diego Padres

After the 1989 season, Carter was traded to the San Diego Padres for prospects Sandy Alomar, Jr., Carlos Baerga, and Chris James. Although he continued to drive in runs, he continued to have defensive problems. The Padres subsequently dealt him to the Toronto Blue Jays along with Roberto Alomar in exchange for star players Fred McGriff and Tony Fernández.

[edit] Toronto Blue Jays

Joe Carter is a member of the Toronto Blue Jays' Level of Excellence.

Carter's overall game improved dramatically in 1991, helping the Toronto Blue Jays win the division title and hitting the game-winning single that clinched the AL East Championship. In 1992, he helped the Jays win their first World Series championship, the first ever won by a Canadian-based team. Carter himself hit two home runs and recorded the final out of the Series, taking a throw to first base from reliever Mike Timlin to nab Otis Nixon of the Atlanta Braves.

[edit] 1993 World Series

In 1993, the Blue Jays reached the World Series again, facing the Philadelphia Phillies. In Game 6, with the Blue Jays leading three games to two, Carter came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Blue Jays trailing 6–5 and Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor on base. On a 2–2 count, Carter hit a three-run walk-off home run off Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams (a hurler against whom he was 0–4 career) to win the World Series, only the second time a Series has ended with a home run (the other being in 1960, when Bill Mazeroski did it), and the only time the home run has been hit by a player whose team was losing. Upon hitting the home run, Carter went into a hysteria, jumping up and down many times most notably rounding first base, where his helmet came off from the dancing. Tom Cheek, radio broadcaster for the Blue Jays at the time, then went on to say "Touch 'em all, Joe! You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!"

[edit] 1994-1997

Carter continued to play for the Blue Jays until 1997, and led the Blue Jays in home runs and RBIs in 1994 and 1995. However, the Blue Jays went from first to worst in 1995, and never posted a winning season in the 1994-1997 stretch.

[edit] Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants

He became a free agent and in 1998 played briefly for the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants before retiring.

[edit] Career statistics

Carter was named to five All-Star teams. In his career he hit 396 home runs and drove in 1445 RBI. He drove in 100 runs in a season ten times, including the 1994 year, which was cut short due to the strike that happened about 110 games into the year. He was the first player to record 100 RBI for three different teams in three consecutive seasons.^[7]

[edit] Post retirement

From 1999-2000 Carter served as announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays on CTV Sportsnet, leaving to work for the Cubs. From 2001–2002 Carter served as the color commentator, alongside play-by-play man Chip Caray, for the Chicago Cubs on WGN-TV. Carter was replaced by the man whom Carter himself replaced, Steve Stone.

Carter was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

In September 2006, Carter was awarded the Major League Baseball Hometown Heroes Award as the former or current player who best represents the legacy of his franchise's history, as voted by fans.

In 2008, Carter appeared on an episode of Pros vs. Joes.

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• 30-30 club
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Carter's Swing Beats the Wild Thing
• Radio play-by-play of Tom Cheek calling Joe Carter's 1993 World Series winning home run