professional baseball player. In 1983 Carlton became the second pitcher to surpass Walter Johnson (Johnson, Walter)'s career record of 3,508 strikeouts (Nolan Ryan (Ryan, Nolan) was the first).

Carlton pitched for Miami-Dade, a junior college in Florida, before the left-hander signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965. After pitching with their minor league clubs, he moved up to the Cardinals in 1966 and remained with them until he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1971 season. He came into his own in pitching with the Phillies, winning 20 or more games six times (1971–72, 1976–77, 1980, and 1982). He won his 300th game on September 23, 1983, becoming the 16th pitcher to do so. In 1972, 1977, 1980, and 1982 he won the Cy Young Award for the best pitcher in the National League. Although he announced his retirement in 1986 after pitching his 4,000th strikeout (while with the San Francisco Giants), he continued to play baseball for several teams until 1988. Carlton amassed 4,136 strikeouts during his career, an amount exceeded only by Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, and Roger Clemens (Clemens, Roger). Carlton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.