A rookie from Comanche, Texas, felt right at home in upper Manhattan.
Ninety years ago, on June 19, 1932, Tex Carleton got his first win in the majors for the Cardinals with a two-hit shutout of the Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York.
A lanky right-hander with a sidearm delivery, Carleton pitched seven years in the minors before earning a spot with the reigning World Series champion Cardinals. The win against the Giants was the first of 100 for him in an eight-year career in the big leagues.
Prime prospect
Born and raised in Comanche, about 150 miles west of Dallas, James Otto Carleton moved with his family to Fort Worth when he was 11. Nicknamed “Tex” by a newspaper reporter, he pitched for Texas Christian University before leaving in his sophomore year, 1925, to begin a professional baseball career.
His breakout season occurred in 1931. Though sidelined a month because of a broken finger on his throwing hand, Carleton was 20-7 with a 1.90 ERA for the Houston Buffaloes.
In the book “The Gashouse Gang,” author Robert E. Hood noted, “His money pitch was a sinking fastball that was hard to hit solidly. It puzzled right-handed batters because it seemed to be heading right at them, only to break down and in at their knees. It made batters long for the shade of the dugout.”
At spring training in 1932, Carleton was “the most consistent of the Cardinals’ pitchers,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported. Of the 28 innings he pitched in exhibition games, 26 were scoreless. “Players think he will be one of the stars of the big show,” The Sporting News declared.
Carleton joined a starting rotation with Dizzy Dean, Paul Derringer, Bill Hallahan and Syl Johnson. When the season started, Carleton put pressure on himself and struggled. “I was always worried about losing the game,” he told Hood.
In his major-league debut, a start against the Cubs, Carleton walked nine in eight innings. In his next start, he issued seven walks to the Pirates in five innings.
“Wildness has made him an uncertain gamble,” wrote Red Smith in the St. Louis Star-Times.
Two months into the 1932 season, Carleton was 0-3 with a 6.32 ERA.
Under control
The start against the Giants on Sunday afternoon June 19 marked a turnaround for Carleton. Pitching with command and changing speeds, “Carleton had the Giants bewildered from start to finish,” the Globe-Democrat reported.
Facing a lineup with future Hall of Famers Freddie Lindstrom, Bill Terry, Mel Ott and Travis Jackson in the third through sixth spots, Carleton retired the first 11 batters before Lindstrom reached on an error by Jimmie Reese. Shanty Hogan got the Giants’ first hit, a single, with two outs in the fifth. The other hit was a single by Eddie Moore. Carleton walked none in nine innings.
“His control was perfection itself,” wrote Red Smith. “You could see the sparks of his fastball. His sweeping sidearm curves made pretzels on the way up to the plate.”
Future Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley, benched after hitting .158 in April, made his first start of the month at first base for the Cardinals and slugged two home runs in support of Carleton.
After retiring Mel Ott for the last out in the 7-0 Cardinals triumph, Carleton “carefully removed a paper sack of chewing tobacco and secreted in his hip pocket the ball that Ott missed,” Jimmy Powers wrote in the New York Daily News. “Then he and (teammate) Pepper Martin waddled about awkwardly in a strange little war dance. They hollered loudly once or twice, then went dog-trotting out to the clubhouse, their arms draped over each other’s shoulders.” Boxscore
All about winning
Carleton finished 1932 with a 10-13 record. He was second on the club in shutouts (three) and strikeouts (113).
During the winter, Giants player-manager Bill Terry met with Cardinals executive Branch Rickey in St. Louis for trade talks. Terry “is especially hopeful of obtaining Tex Carleton, whom he believes is one of the coming hurling stars of the National League,” The Sporting News reported.
Negotiations broke off without a deal because the Cardinals “wanted too much,” Terry told the New York Daily News.
In 1933, Carleton again gave another stellar performance against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. On July 2, he and the Giants’ Carl Hubbell each pitched 16 scoreless innings. Carleton was removed for a pinch-hitter in the 17th, and Hubbell won with an 18-inning shutout. Boxscore
Carleton told author Robert Hood he thought Hubbell, not Dizzy Dean, was the best pitcher in baseball at that time.
During the 1933 season, Carleton lost weight and the club worried about his health. According to the Gashouse Gang book, team physician Dr. Robert Hyland offered an unusual remedy.
“He recommended two or three highballs before dinner each night to stimulate my appetite,” Carleton said. “I used to get prescription whiskey _ it still being Prohibition _ and carry it with me on the road.”
Though he finished the season with a 17-11 record, Carleton said he thought he could have done better. “Proud and sensitive, he felt he should win 20 games every year,” Hood wrote in the Gashouse Gang book.
Carleton was 16-11 for the 1934 Cardinals, who won a World Series title, but afterward he was traded to the Cubs for $50,000 and two pitchers, Bud Tinning and Dick Ward, neither of whom would win a game for St. Louis.
Carleton helped the Cubs win National League pennants in 1935 and 1938. He pitched a no-hitter for the Dodgers against the Reds in 1940, but, plagued by shoulder ailments, it was his last season in the majors. He finished with a career mark of 100-76.