Former Blue Jays slugger Rico Carty dies at age 85

Former Toronto Blue Jays and MLB star Rico Carty passed away at the age of 85. Carty, whose career spanned 15 seasons in baseball, crossed paths with the Blue Jays. His impact was felt both on the field and in the path he blazed for future generations of players from Latin America.

Carty had been battling various health issues and died in Atlanta, perhaps the city whose baseball team he is most closely associated with. The Atlanta Braves and a host of others around baseball put out statements remembering the man who recorded 1,677 hits during an illustrious career.

"Few players in franchise history connected with Braves fans like Rico Carty," the Braves said in a statement. "A fan favorite almost instantly after the club arrived in Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966, Rico left an indelible mark on the Braves organization.

Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic where he developed strong connections among the island's many baseball players. Carty established himself as a pretty solid power hitter with 204 career home runs, averaging 20 round-trippers per season and mostly playing in the outfield. When this guy was healthy, you can almost guarantee he was posting at least an .800 OPS.

Carty's career was one in which he achieved epic feats punctuated by untimely injuries. He suffered a few maladies while playing winter baseball in the Dominican Republic and once missed an entire season due to tuberculosis. His peak season was a National League batting title-winning 1970 campaign in which he hit .366 with 25 homers and 101 RBIs. In all, the first six seasons of his career featured elite production before a slight drop-off in the next few seasons likely due to injuries, then finding a second wind with Cleveland and ultimately retiring with Toronto.

Carty's first association with the Blue Jays came during the expansion draft in 1976. The Blue Jays were in their infancy stages as a franchise and Carty was chosen with the 10th overall pick of the draft. A few weeks later, however, Carty was traded back to the Cleveland Indians where he would continue to star.

The 1978 season represented his first full season north of the border following a trade from Ohio. Carty would play 236 games for the Blue Jays, batting .269/.330/.432 with 32 homers and 42 doubles. In the 1979 season he posted a 92 OPS+ in 132 games. That was the end of a baseball playing career for the native of the Dominican Republic.

Carty's post-playing career included a stint as a scout for the Blue Jays in the Caribbean. In the intervening years, he understood how important it was to pay it forward to the next generation. Carty remembered the different way in which players grew and developed when he was becoming a baseball player.

“Guys became ballplayers naturally, just playing the game and watching others,” Carty told the publication La Vida Baseball about the differences between players now and then. “Even when you made it to the major leagues, you had to show your talent. Nobody was there to help. We started playing different type of ball games in San Pedro, hitting balls made out of socks. That made us good hitters.”

Carty was all about doing the right thing and will be fondly remembered in the baseball community. It's why he was named to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. Our hearts go out to everyone in the Dominican Republic and his time in Toronto will hold a place in the hearts of fans for years to come.