Don Carman

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Donald Wayne Carman (born August 14, 1959, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) was a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher.

Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1978, Carman would make his Major League Baseball debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on October 1, 1983, and appear in his final game on July 18, 1992.

During his ten-season career he appeared in 342 games, 102 as a starter. National League "top ten" achievements include:

• 1985 - games pitched - 4th (71)
• 1986 - winning percentage - 8th (.667)
• 1987 - wins - 9th (13)
• 1987 - games started - 4th (35)
• 1987 - innings pitched - 10th (211)

Other career highlights include:

• a one-hit, complete game shutout vs. the New York Mets in front of 30,799 fans at Veterans Stadium (September 29, 1987)
• a three-hit, complete game shutout vs. the San Diego Padres (May 16, 1987)
• a four-hit, complete game shutout vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates (September 15, 1986)
• nine innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball , with 9 strikeouts, and the game won in the 10th inning vs. the San Francisco Giants (August 20, 1986) His bid for a perfect game was broken up by a Bob Brenly double leading off the ninth. [1]
• held All-Stars Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jeffrey Leonard, Pete Rose, Larry Walker, and Matt Williams to a .025 collective batting average (1-for-40)

Carman's career totals include a record of 53-54, 598 strikeouts, 11 saves, 83 games finished, and an ERA of 4.11.

Carman was also known for his sense of humor; tired of repetitive postgame questions from sports reporters, in the 1990 season he posted a handwritten list of 37 standard responses on his locker and invited reporters to take their pick. The list, including clichés like "I'd rather be lucky than good" and "We're going to take the season one game at a time", was eventually published in several newspapers in its entirety.

After his retirement, Carman settled with his family in Naples, Florida. He earned a degree in sports psychology from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. The December 6, 2006 issue of the Tampa Bay Times revealed in its sports column that Carman recently wrote replies to all the fan letters he had received (he had kept the letters but did not respond to them at the time).

[edit] Teams

• Philadelphia Phillies: 1983-1990
• Cincinnati Reds: 1991
• Texas Rangers: 1992

[edit] External links

• Don Carman at Baseball Reference.com
• Retrosheet
• Article about Carman responding to fan letters fifteen years late
• Don Carman's list of 37 stock responses to reporters' postgame questions