Phillies: Lefty's Months
A look at Steve Carlton's 1972 season by month.
Phillies: Lefty's Months
Bob Vetrone Jr.
As Cliff Lee took the mound in Toronto last Sunday, burgers were on the grill, cold beverages were making their way toward bellies and this question was in the air: "Did Steve Carlton have anywhere near as good a month in his great 1972 season as Cliff Lee had this June (5-0. 0.21)?"
The answer is no (as you can see below), but it did bring to mind that Carlton, who would finish the season 27-10 for a team that won just 59 games, actually entered June of that season with a losing record (5-6) and that the Phils lost six of his nine starts between April 29 and June 3.
He then unfurled a 15-game winning streak en route to one of the great pitching exhibitions on the modern baseball era.
Lefty's month-by-month performance in 1972:
| Month | W-L | ERA | GS | CG | Sho | IP | H | BB | SO |
| April | 3-1 | 1.59 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 34.0 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
| May | 2-5 | 3.81 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 54.1 | 50 | 17 | 60 |
| June | 4-0 | 2.41 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 56.0 | 47 | 19 | 65 |
| July | 6-0 | 1.48 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 61.0 | 41 | 11 | 49 |
| Aug. | 6-2 | 1.67 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 70.0 | 45 | 18 | 51 |
| Sept. | 5-2 | 1.16 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 62.0 | 51 | 14 | 44 |
| Oct. | 1-0 | 1.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 9 | 1 | 7 |
Lee dominated for one month. Carlton dominated for five-with a last place team. Complete game after complete game--30 in ONE season. There is no comparison.— Richie Allen- We sometimes forget just how great Lefty was. Also the last pitcher to throw 300 innings in a season.— s
- While Lee and Halladay are very good by today's standards in regard to pitching a lot of innings, they are not in the same league as Carlton and many of his contemporaries. Funny how all of the training and diet advancements we have made over the last 20-30 years allows pitchers of today to throw considerably less innings.— MrPhillie
