Maneuverability. The Phillies were all about it in ‘73. They wanted to do sexy, maneuverable things, like carrying three catchers in order to be more liberal with pinch hitting in key match-ups. They wanted to be flexible. Fluid. Relentless. Constantly maneuvering.
Wherever they were moving, they’d be orbiting two young fixtures on the roster. One was named Mike Schmidt. He’d play in 132 games and hit under .200. The other was Steve Carlton. The Phillies were about to pay him $165,000, which today is equal to “one Philadelphia city council person’s shady real estate payout.”
In 1973, it made Carlton the highest paid pitcher in the league.