Carlton Breaks Sound Barrier : After 8-Year Interview Ban, Pitcher Talks With Media--Wants to Play Until 50

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Carlton put on a San Francisco Giants uniform for the first time Friday and broke his eight-year ban on interviews by saying he thinks he can pitch until he is 50 years old.

“I would’ve walked away from the game if I were having mechanical problems or had a sore arm,” the 41-year-old left-hander said at a news conference. But Carlton thought that despite his release by the Philadelphia Phillies he could still be a winning pitcher and help the Giants win the National League West title.

Carlton, who will start Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals, warmed up for 10 minutes before holding his news conference.

“I’ve been throwing every day,” said Carlton, who agreed to terms with the Giants Thursday night. “My arm is sound.”

Carlton was told by one reporter that he looked fit enough to pitch until he was 50.

“Yeah, if I was effective,” Carlton agreed.

Carlton would not discuss the circumstances that led him to stop talking to reporters, but the last words he was quoted as saying in public were, “Policy is policy,” in 1978.

Asked if it will be emotional if he faces Philadelphia, after spending 14 seasons with the team, Carlton said: “I try to take the emotion out of the game. It only adds to losing, not to winning. I am a science-type pitcher.”

As he stood with Manager Roger Craig in the Giants’ clubhouse, Carlton said: This is great.”

He said it had been 10 years since he held a news conference, and joked: “Pardon me if I make any mistakes.”

Carlton said he is open to learning the split-fingered fastball from Craig.

“I’m always open to new pitches,” said Carlton, who mixes up a knuckleball with his fastball and curve.

Asked why he decided to lift his ban on talking, he said: “You can’t make a move like this and not talk to the media. I can’t say if it will continue in the future.”

Carlton met privately with Craig, club President Al Rosen and owner Bob Lurie before warming up.

The arrival of the four-time National League Cy Young Award-winner and 10-time All-Star came with the Giants leading the National League West.

“He’ll fit in here nicely,” said pitcher Mike Krukow, who played with Carlton at Philadelphia in 1982. “The way he works on the field, his habits, he’s a champion, and I think he’s going to bring that demeanor into the clubhouse.

“We do have a lot of youth around here, and I can’t think of a better prototype of professionalism than Steve Carlton. He’s the best.”

Carlton said: “I didn’t come here to coach, but if someone wants some help, I’ll give it.”

Rosen said: “Maybe a Steve Carlton on our ballclub, which has so many young players on it, might be a stabilizing influence because he has done everything there is to do in baseball. He’s been in pennant fights, he’s been on world championship teams and he knows what it is all about.”

Carlton was just 4-8 with a 6.18 earned-run average and 62 strikeouts in 16 starts when the Phillies gave him his unconditional release on June 26. He was 1-8 in 1985 and missed most of the season after going on the disabled list in June with a strained rotator cuff in his left shoulder.

But Rosen said he had made some inquiries about Carlton’s health after being telephoned by Carlton’s agent Thursday and was satisfied that the signing was worth the gamble.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“You just don’t get a crack at a pitcher like this or player like this if he is going good, because the other club is going to keep him,” Rosen said.

Carlton is in his 22nd major league season. He is second in career strikeouts with 3,982, trailing only Nolan Ryan of the Astros.

Carlton has a career record of 318 victories and 223 defeats in 689 games. He won the Cy Young Award as the league’s best pitcher in 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982.