Rico Carty

Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty
(Beeg Boy, Beeg Mon)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.

• Debut September 15, 1963
• Final Game September 23, 1979
• Born September 1, 1939 in San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris, D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

"Meanwhile, an anxiety-stricken middle aged woman sat wedged between me, on the aisle, and Rico Carty in the window seat. Rico, halfway through the flight, was getting oiled and began a one-sided conversation with his seat companion. I got the immediate impression this woman was not accustomed to being placed in close proximity to enormous men with rich Caribbean accents. Nor did she appear to be an avid follower of the Great American Pastime. 'They call me The B-e-e-g Boy,' he told her. 'Ho-ho-ho. They say the B-e-e-g Boy no longer h-e-e-t-s. And you know what I say? Horse s-h-e-e-t!' Now Carty was gripping an imaginary bat and waving it in her face. 'The B-e-e-g Boy,' he assured this woman, 'will h-e-e-t!'" - Mike Shropshire, from Seasons In Hell, a chronicle of his time as beatwriter with the Texas Rangers

"Rico did his own thing... He was from the Dominican Republic. He played winter ball there and figured he didn't need much spring training, so he was always late. He also was a general in the Dominican Army Reserve and he used that as an excuse to be late. He'd always tell the Indians 'Don't worry about The Beeg Mon, he will hit. He always hits. I'd have been here sooner, but I had to be in a big army parade in Santo Domingo because I'm the general." - Nev Chandler, to Terry Pluto, from The Curse of Rocky Colavito

Outfielder Rico Carty was once one of baseball's most dynamic hitters (in the 1960s) and always one of baseball's most dynamic personalities. Known to teammates as "The Beeg Boy" and "The Beeg Mon", he played 15 years in the majors, mostly during the sports's second dead-ball era. Carty typically had a high batting average, good power, and decent range in the outfield. He led the National League in batting in 1970, was second in 1964, and third in 1966. As outstanding as his career was, he may have been Cooperstown-bound had he not suffered a variety of leg injuries and serious illness.

One of the first major leaguers to hail from the now famous San Pedro de Macoris, Carty played for the Dominican national team in the 1959 Pan American Games. He was signed that year by the Milwaukee Braves and reached the bigs for a cup of coffee in 1963. Up for good in 1964, he made a splash playing alongside Hank Aaron while having just as good a year, batting .330, slugging .554, and hitting 22 home runs in just 445 at bats. Though more than enough any other year to win the Rookie of the Year Award, the Philadelphia Phillies' third baseman Dick Allen had an even better rookie season, earning almost unanimous choice as 1964's NL top rookie pick. Carty played with the Braves from 1963 to 1972.

Through his first six full seasons, his batting average stood at a robust .322, a terrific figure in an era when batting championships were being won with averages as low as .301. The years, however, had not been easy. Leg injuries hobbled him repeatedly, and he suffered a subpar 1967 and lost all of 1968 to a bout of tuberculosis. He missed 1971 completely with injuries suffered during winter baseball. In between those two lost seasons he showed the kind of player he could be if he could only stay on the field, putting up a terrific .342/.401/.549 line in 104 games in 1969. He was even hotter in 1970, batting .366/.454/.584 line with 25 bombs and 101 RBI, making his lone All-Star Game performance while winning the batting title and leading the league in OBP. His 31-game hitting streak that year was Braves record until passed by Dan Uggla in 2011.

Destined by persistent ailment and advancing years for the made-to-order DH role, Carty moved to the American League in time for the position's debut in 1973. He spent the season with three teams before settling in with the Cleveland Indians from 1974 to 1977, playing for the most part excellently. During his Cleveland tenure, he began fomenting rebellion under the managerial structure of Hall of Fame player-coach Frank Robinson, who took over in 1976, turning a speech where Carty received the 1976 Golden Tomahawk Award, as Cleveland's 1976 Man of the Year, into a scathing indictment of Frank's leadership (or lack thereof). Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1977 expansion draft, he was traded back to Cleveland before the season, then sent back to Toronto once it was over. He split 1978 between the Blue Jays and the Oakland Athletics, hitting a career high (and then DH record) 31 home runs. He finished his career as the Blue Jays' regular DH in 1979, becoming, at 39 years, 339 days, the oldest player in MLB history to hit his 200th home run that August.

In Carty's scorching early days, comparisons were made to Roberto Clemente as well as Tony Oliva, whose own potential Hall of Fame path was derailed by repeated leg injuries. By his career's end, Baseball Reference's similarity scores shows his most similar player as Pedro Guerrero, a streaky thumper Bill James called baseball's best hitter of the 1980s. He is the all-time Dominican Winter League career home run leader with 59, and was elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame in its class of 2011.

Carty is the uncle of Julio Santana. His cousin, Ramon, played in the Dominican Republic but not the Dominican League. His son, Rico Jr., played 16 games for the AZL Mariners in 1991.

Notable Achievements

• 1964 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• NL All-Star (1970)
• NL Batting Average Leader (1970)
• NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1970)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1964, 1970 & 1978)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1978)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1970)

Further Reading

• Wynn Montgomery: "Rico Carty", in Chip Greene, ed.: Mustaches and Mayhem, Charlie O's Three-Time Champions: The Oakland Athletics 1972-74, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2015, pp. 384-391. ISBN 978-1-943816-07-1

Related Sites

• Rico Carty at the SABR Bio Project