"Auggie Busch traded me to the last-place Phillies over a salary dispute ($5,000). I was mentally committed to winning 25 games with the Cardinals and now I had to re-think my goals. I decided to stay with the 25-win goal and won 27 of the Phillies 59 victories. I consider that season my finest individual achievement."

"It (the slider) just rolls off of your index finger and begins it's spin which will take it down and across the plate (hopefully). Just remember not to twist your elbow or wrist. It should be thrown, with the wrist and grip set, just like your fastball , slightly off center - with the same velocity and intensity."

"It (not talking to the media from 1974 through the end of his career) was perfect for me at the time. It took me two years to make up my mind. I was tired of getting slammed. To me it was a slap in the face. But it [his silence] made me concentrate better. And the irony is that they wrote better without access to my quotes. It's all quotes, anyway, and it all sounds the same to me. After that they wrote better and more interesting stuff. I took it personal. I got slammed quite a bit. To pick up the paper and read about yourself getting slammed, that doesn't start your day off right."

"I threw all my pitches over the top which was important for me because my slider was hard to tell from my fastball at release."

''I was probably in the best shape of any athlete at the time, but you don't get to pass judgment on yourself.''

"My major league debut came at old Busch Stadium on Grand Avenue in St. Louis against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first pitch I threw was to third baseman Bob Bailey. It was a fastball, low and away. He ripped it for a home run down the left field line. I said, 'Damn, that was a pretty good pitch.'"

"Pete Rose came over to the Phillies in '79 and he became the catalyst that helped us to put it all together. His example on the field and his leadership helped to bring everybody's play up a notch. Hopefully, Pete will be reinstated by Baseball and he will have his rightful place in baseball history, a plaque in the Hall of Fame."

"(Mike) Schmitty provided the relief pitchers need most, home runs and great defense. He's the best third baseman that I ever played with, and maybe of all-time. Obvious Hall of Famer, even then. He retired while on top of his game. I thought for sure he was going to hit 600 home runs."

"You (Dick Ruthven) hold it like this and throw the shit out of it (the ball & instructions on throwing a slider)."

"(Steve) Carlton was not your normal guy. Communicating with him was not always easy. On the mound, he would tune out all distractions. Off the mound, he did the same. If he considered you the distraction, he'd direct at you an icy stare. Teammates considered him to be a recluse. He hated to sign autographs. He refused to talk to reporters for long stretches at a time. He was devoted to the martial arts. He studied Far East religions. He was a wine connoisseur. He pissed people off with his stand-offishness and arrogance. Carlton was also the finest left handed pitcher of his generation. In a career that would last twenty-four years, he would win 329 games, ninth all-time, with an ERA of 3.22. His 4,136 strikeouts were second all-time only to Nolan Ryan. Unfortunately, most of his career was not spent in St. Louis but rather in Philadelphia." - Peter Golenbock in The Spirit of St. Louis (2000)

"Lefty was a craftsman, an artist. He was a perfectionist. He painted a ballgame. Stroke, stroke, stroke, and when he got through (pitching a game) it was a masterpiece." - Richie Ashburn

National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque Inscription

EXTREMELY FOCUSED COMPETITOR WITH COMPLETE DEDICATION
TO EXCELLENCE. THRIVED ON MOUND BY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY
CHALLENGING HIMSELF OFF THE FIELD. OUT PITCH WAS HARD,
BITING SLIDER. 329 VICTORIES SECOND ONLY TO SPAHN AMONG
LEFTIES AND 4,136 STRIKEOUTS EXCEEDED ONLY BY RYAN. SHARES
N.L. RECORD WITH 19 STRIKEOUTS IN GAME. SIX 20 WIN SEASONS.
ONLY HURLER TO WIN 4 CY YOUNG AWARDS.

"Steve Carlton was an extremely focused competitor with complete dedication to excellence. He thrived on the mound by physically and mentally challenging himself off the field. His out-pitch, a hard, biting slider complemented a great fastball." - National Baseball Hall of Fame

"We hadn't been able to sign (Steve) Carlton. There was no free agency, so he didn't have the freedom to say, 'Sign me or else.' He was being very difficult to sign for the ridiculous amount of $10,000 between what he wanted and what we'd give him. Many times Mr. Busch gave me a little leeway in the budget, but in the case of Carlton, Mr. Busch developed the feeling that Carlton was a 'smart-aleck' young guy, 'and I'm not used to having young smart-alecks tell me what do.'" - St. Louis Cardinals General Manager Bing Devine

"When I played for other teams against Steve (Carlton), I could hear the right handed hitters saying, `He may have gotten me out but at least he didn't throw me the slider.'" - Tim McCarver

"When Steve (Carlton) and I die, we are going to be buried in the same cemetery, sixty feet, six inches apart." - Tim McCarver