teve Carlton stepped into the batter's box, tapped his shoes, and dug in. He took a few practice swings and stared down the pitcher. Steve Carlton got the signal from the catcher, stood, looked toward first, then fired toward home plate.
Steve Carlton stepped forward and swung at a 90-plus mile-per-hour fastball out over the plate. He lined the pitch for a two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth, RBI single to help Philadelphia defeat St. Louis.
OK, OK. Steve Carlton didn't really get a game-winning hit off Steve Carlton. But the scenario did occur in 1996, when Carlton, a Hall of Fame pitcher with 24 years of service in the big leagues, was the spokesperson for the All-Star Game's FanFest in Philadelphia. One of the attractions at FanFest is the Video Batting Cage, where the fans get to test their hitting skills against a video image of a major league pitcher.
Carlton got to hit against his digital self, and though the situation may not have been as tense or as exciting as a real at-bat, he nonetheless got a kick out of the experience.
''Hitting against myself was a lot of fun,'' said Carlton, a former 10-time All-Star who has been involved with FanFest for four years. He will be in Boston this weekend as one of 40 or so baseball legends on hand at the Hynes Convention Center to sign autographs, take pictures, and answer questions. Other legends expected include Hank Aaron, George Brett, Bob Gibson, Paul Molitor, and Bobby Thomson.
''It was spooky because the film is showing me on screen,'' he said. ''And the cage was dark and not well-lit.''
Did you hit the slider, Steve?
''No way!''
Of course he didn't. Not many hitters could hit Carlton's signature pitch, or any of his other pitches, for that matter. He had an explosive fastball and was the true definition of a power pitcher. But it was his sharp, biting slider, in addition to his focus and work ethic, that made him one of the game's dominant pitchers in the 1970s and early '80s. ''Lefty,'' as he was called, won 329 games and struck out 4,136 batters. Only the Braves' Warren Spahn racked up more victories as a lefty than Lefty. Only Nolan Ryan has more Ks.
''When I played for other teams against Steve, I could hear the righthanded hitters saying, `He may have gotten me out but at least he didn't throw me the slider,''' said Carlton's close friend and former teammate, Tim McCarver.
Even with his impressive career totals, his performance in 1972 for the last-place Phillies was downright amazing. He went 27-10 for a last-place team. Now do the math. Philadelphia won 59 games that year. He also had a 15-game winning streak, and his 30 complete games included eight shutouts.
Today's game is different for pitchers, but just for a little added perspective, the Red Sox' Pedro Martinez, the present master of the finished product, has 25 career complete games.
Carlton, traded to Philadelphia in '72 after seven seasons with the Cardinals, won the pitching Triple Crown that year as he led the National League in wins, strikeouts (310), and ERA (1.97), while pitching a league-high 346 1/3 innings. It was one of six 20-win seasons, and resulted in one of his four Cy Young Awards. He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1967 (against the Sox). He retired in 1988, and in 1994, his first year of eligibility, 96 percent of the baseball writers voted him into the Hall.
Some resume, but Carlton is not the least bit concerned with his place among the greatest pitchers in history. ''I was probably in the best shape of any athlete at the time,'' said Carlton, a martial artist. ''But you don't get to pass judgment on yourself.''
Though hitters may have had a tough time getting to Lefty, he wasn't able to slide his way out of a turbulent relationship with the Philadelphia media. Carlton felt he was being abused and mistreated by the press, so in retaliation he resorted to what was known as the ''Big Silence.'' He did not speak to the press from 1974 to the end of his career.
Radical, yes, yet Carlton has no regrets.
''It was perfect for me at the time,'' said Carlton, 54. ''It took me two years to make up my mind. I was tired of getting slammed. To me it was a slap in the face. But it [his silence] made me concentrate better. And the irony is that they wrote better without access to my quotes. It's all quotes, anyway, and it all sounds the same to me. After that they wrote better and more interesting stuff.
''I took it personal. I got slammed quite a bit. To pick up the paper and read about yourself getting slammed, that doesn't start your day off right.''
Carlton said he was slammed again in a 1994 article in Philadelphia Magazine in which he says the writer incorrectly portrayed Carlton's tendencies and his political beliefs. Carlton says that, contrary to the article, he has always been approachable when it comes to signing autographs and interacting with fans.
You can see for yourself this weekend.
