November 24, 2024
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Rico Carty has passed away at the age of 85.
Carty, who batted .269 with 32 home runs in 236 games in parts of two seasons with the Blue Jays in 1978 and 1979, had been the oldest living former Blue Jays player.
No cause of death has been released.
In 1978, the right-handed hitting slugger became the first Blue Jay to hit 20 home runs in a season for the club. Carty finished his major league career as a DH with the Blue Jays in 1979.
Born in San Pedro de Macoris, D.R. on September 1, 1939, Carty was signed as an amateur free agent by the Milwaukee Braves on October 24, 1959. After making his major league debut in 1963, the right-handed hitting outfielder quickly became one of the most feared hitters in the Braves’ lineup.
In 829 games in eight seasons with the Braves, he posted a .317 batting average, which is tied for the sixth-best in franchise history. He won a National League batting title with the Braves in 1970 when hit .363. For his efforts, he was named a National League All-Star. Carty also owns the highest career WAR of any left fielder in Braves’ franchise history.
On top of his tenures with the Braves and the Blue Jays, Carty also played for the Texas Rangers, the Chicago Cubs, Oakland A’s and Cleveland. During his 15-season big league career, he hit over .300 eight times in a season – four times he batted better than .330.
In all, in 15 major league seasons, Carty hit .299 with 1,677 hits – including 204 home runs – in 1,651 games.
On August 19, 2023, Carty was elected to the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in a pre-game ceremony.
The Braves issued the following statement about Carty this morning:
Writer’s Note: I will be writing a more extensive obituary about Rico Carty that will focus on his seasons with the Blue Jays in the coming days.
Thanks for the update,
Thanks for your support, Bob.
Rico Carty also played for the old Triple A minor league Toronto Maple Leafs in the International Baseball League. The only other player to have also played for the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays was, still living, Catcher Phil Roof (incidentally Rico Carty also played Catcher for the Maple Leafs, I don’t think he ever played Catcher in the Major Leagues (except perhaps in an emergency situation)
Thanks for this, David. I will definitely be mentioning Carty’s time with the Leafs in a more extensive obituary in the coming days.
A great MLB player. Thanks for sharing the news Kevin