Philly Front Office

For most of my life, I’ve been jealous of St. Louis Cardinals fans. I hate them, to be clear, but it must be such a nice fanhood. They have 11 World Series wins, but never the type of expectations that ruins fanbases like the Yankees. It’s just enough for families to feel good about.¹ Every generation seems to have a star too, present team excluded, from Stan Musial to Bob Gibson to Ozzie Smith to Albert Pujols. Must be nice. That’s why, when I get the chance to thumb my nose at them, I will. 54 years ago, they made one of the worst trades of all time: Rick Wise for Steve Carlton, straight up.

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The trade was semi-defensible at the time. Rick Wise had a pretty good 1971. He was only 25, had a 2.88 ERA, and had one of the greatest games any player has ever had before or since. On June 23rd against the Cincinnati Reds, Wise didn’t just throw a no-hitter, he also hit TWO home runs in a 4-0 Phillies win. Normally, this would be a story about how the Phillies gave up on the best thing they had…not this time.

Steve Carlton was not some prospect that the Cardinals were trying to flip for a proven player in Wise like you would think. Instead, he was a 26-year-old coming off 3 straight outstanding seasons and was set as the co-anchor of a rotation that included Bob Gibson. The duo had made two World Series appearances together and won in 1967. For these accomplishments, Carlton wanted a big raise. The Anheuser-Busch magnate writing the checks at the time for the Cardinals didn’t want to give it to him. Shortly before the 1972 season started, the Cards called up the Phillies and the deal was made.

The rest is history. Steve Carlton’s 1972 is one of the most outrageous in the history of baseball for both good and bad reasons. His 12.1 WAR is the 2nd most ever since 1913² and he led the league in wins (27), ERA (1.97), innings (346.1), and Ks (310) while finishing as the unanimous Cy Young winner. Why was it bad? The Phillies were one of the worst teams in baseball with a 59-97 record. Considering how bad the team was, what Carlton did is nothing short of amazing.

The Cardinals weren’t too much better finishing at 75-81, missing the playoffs by 21.5 games. For his part, Rick Wise had maybe the best season of his career with a 3.11 ERA in 35 starts. He only lasted one more season though before being traded to Boston for the eternally underrated Reggie Smith who only lasted two seasons himself.

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Carlton would play the next 15 years for the Phillies winning 4 Cy Young awards and the team’s first World Series in 1980. He’s 11th in all-time wins and 4th in all-time strikeouts. Carlton is simply one of the greatest lefty pitchers ever and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994. Along with Mike Schmidt, they are generally considered the two best Phillies in team history.

For a good recap of his best performances, check out this article from That Ball’s Outta Here from 2019.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

1. Despite having never won back-to-back championships, they are 2nd all time with their longest drought only being 24 years, from 1982 to 2006. ↩︎
2. Dwight Gooden’s 12.2 in 1985 is the most ↩︎