Tuesday Trivia: Dress for success
As trades go, especially among All-Star players, this one occurs fairly late in the offseason and also brings us to today’s installment of Tuesday Trivia involving Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton.
That Carlton spends the winter of 1971-72 in a bitter argument for a salary raise from the St. Louis Cardinals is well documented. Same for pitcher Rick Wise, his counterpart in Philadelphia, who makes the same argument for himself in Philadelphia.
Oh, the two eventually get their raises, but only after the Cardinals and Phillies trade them for each other on Feb. 25, 1972.
No question, either, that Carlton goes on to spend the best part of his Hall of Fame career with the Phillies, while Wise continues with his excellent, but comparatively unheralded, career in the major leagues.
Now, the question is this: What uniform number does Carlton briefly wear after first joining the Phillies?
And, no, the number is not 32, the number Carlton wears for seven seasons in St. Louis but one that belongs to Phillies pitcher Darrell Brandon at the time of Carlton’s trade to Philadelphia.
Rick Wise with the Phillies
Yes, Brandon will cede his No. 32 to Carlton before the 1972 season begins.
Prior to that, though, what number does Carlton wear for the Phillies?
We can wait.
And wait.
And then wait just a little longer until you come up with the number 38.
Turns out Carlton initially is issued the same number Wise wears for the Phillies from 1966-71.
As for Brandon, he switches to No. 30 for the next two seasons before his major league career ends in 1973.
After switching jersey numbers with Brandon, Carlton wears No. 32 for the Phillies until his release from the team midway through the 1986 season.
Carlton continues wearing No. 32 for the next 13 months as he bounces from the Phillies to the San Francisco Giants to the Chicago White Sox and then to the Cleveland Indians.
Carlton then spends his final 13 games of his 24-year career in the majors with Minnesota, where coincidentally he wears for the Twins the same No. 38 he initially dons for the Phillies.
Steve Carlton, center, in 1972 with Phillies teammates Tim McCarver and Joe Hoerner