no. 270 - rico carty

Who is the man: Rico Carty enjoyed the best season of his 15-year major league career in 1970, leading the National League with a .366 batting average, the highest average since Ted Williams hit .388 in 1957. But by the time this card arrived in packs, Carty was shelved for the 1971 season, suffering a broken knee in winter ball in the Dominican Republic.

Can ya dig it: It looks like Carty shortened his full name, Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty, in his signature by abbreviating "Adolfo".

Right on: I believe Carty is taking his hacks before a game against the Mets in Shea Stadium.

You see this cat Carty is a bad mother: Carty once punched teammate Hank Aaron in the face during a fight on a team flight.

Shut your mouth: The fight came about because Carty was talking loudly in Spanish with some of his teammates. Aaron thought they were talking about him and he told them to speak English if they were going to talk about him.

No one understands him but his woman: . The outspoken Carty was also involved in disputes with teammate Ron Santo and managers Frank Robinson and Whitey Herzog.

(A word about the back): Carty may have started his pro career as a catcher, but he played just 17 games at catcher in the majors, all during the 1966 season.

no. 62 - 1970 national league batting leaders

Who is the man: Rico Carty is the man. He beat the second-place finisher in the batting race by more than 40 points! Highest batting average in major league baseball in 13 years, too.

Can ya dig it: I'm going to say Manny Sanguillen is signing an autograph. He's doing writing of some sort on his individual card in the 1971 set, so I'm thinking this picture is from the same photo shoot.

Right on: I'm almost certain the player behind Joe Torre is Mike Torrez. He wore the number 48 for the 1970 Cardinals and that sure looks like his last name on the back of the jersey.

You see these cats are bad mothers: You'll have to find out why they're bad mothers when their individual cards pop up here.

Shut your mouth: Carty was acquired by the Cubs in August of 1973, but didn't get along with all-star third baseman Ron Santo. The Cubs promptly dealt Carty to the A's a month later. Carty complained that Santo was a selfish player and that the Cubs would never win another title as long as Santo was on the team.

No one understands him but his woman: Carty was left off the All-Star ballot in 1970, even though he hit .342 in 1969. But fans wrote him in as a starting outfielder. I guess they understood.

(A word about the back): I get a kick out of seeing Wes Parker so high on the batting average leaders.