Joe Carter
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Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1983 to 1998, most famous for hitting a home run to end the 1993 World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays trailing 6-5 to the Philadelphia Phillies, just two outs away from a seventh game.
College
Joe Carter attended Wichita State University for college, where he left after his junior year.Career
Carter first reached the majors in 1983 with the Chicago Cubs but was then traded to the Cleveland Indians, where he blossomed into a star. Carter emerged as a prolific power hitter, hitting as many as 35 home runs in a season and regularly driving in 100 or more runs. He usually hit a similar amount of doubles as he did homers, and would get respectable numbers of triples in many years, as well. He was also a very good baserunner, stealing 20-30 bases a year with a high rate of success, and a good defensive outfielder.In 1990, Carter was traded to the San Diego Padres for Sandy Alomar, Jr., Carlos Baerga, and Chris James. Although he continued to drive in runs, he struggled in other aspects of his game and did not play well. The Padres subsequently dealt him to the Toronto Blue Jays along with Roberto Alomar in exchange for star players Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez.
Playing Baseball in Canada
Carter improved dramatically in 1991, helping the Blue Jays win the division title, hitting the game-winning single that clinched the AL East. In 1992, he helped the Jays win their first World Series championship, the first ever won by a Canadian-based team. Carter himself hit two home runs and made the final out of the Series, taking a throw to first base from reliever Mike Timlin to nab Otis Nixon of the Atlanta Braves.
In 1993, the Blue Jays again reached the World Series, facing the Philadelphia Phillies. In Game 6, with the Blue Jays leading three games to two, Carter came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Blue Jays losing 6-5 and Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor on base. On a 2-2 count, Carter hit a three-run home run off Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams (a hurler whom he was 0-4 career against) to win the World Series, only the second time a Series has ended with a home run (the other being in 1960, when Bill Mazeroski did it), and the only time the home run has been hit by a player whose team was losing.
After Glory/Post Retirement
Carter continued to play for the Jays until 1997, but his play and the Jays' fortunes declined rapidly. He was released and in 1998 played briefly for the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants before retiring.From 2001-2002 Carter served as the color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Chip Caray) for the Chicago Cubs on WGN-TV. Carter was replaced by the man whom Carter himself replaced, Steve Stone.
Carter was named to five All-Star teams. In his career he hit 396 home runs and drove in 1,445 RBI. He drove in 100 runs in a season ten times, including the 1994 year, which was cut short due to the strike that happened about 110 games into the year.
Carter was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
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External link
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
- [The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Carter's Swing Beats the Wild Thing]
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