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Toronto Blue Jays Issue Statement on Passing of Rico Carty

Carty spent two years with the Jays in the 1970s. He passed away recently at the age of 85.

Brady Farkas

A pair of Toronto Blue Jays hats and glove in the dugout during a game against the Minnesota Twins at Rogers Centre in 2024.
A pair of Toronto Blue Jays hats and glove in the dugout during a game against the Minnesota Twins at Rogers Centre in 2024. / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays issued a statement Sunday on social media regarding the passing of Rico Carty, who passed away recently at the age of 85.

We are saddened to learn of the passing of former Blue Jay and 15-year MLB veteran Rico Carty.

A member of the Caribbean Baseball and Latino Baseball Halls of Fame and a humanitarian in the Dominican Republic - Carty’s legacy and impact will be remembered forever.

Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time

As mentioned, Carty spent 15 years in the big leagues with the Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and Blue Jays. A lifetime .299 hitter, he won a batting title back in 1970 with Atlanta. He also led the league in on-base percentage that year at .454 and made his only All-Star team.

With the Blue Jays, he played 104 games in 1978 and 132 more in 1979. He hit 20 homers for the Jays in 1978 and 12 in 1979. The Blue Jays only came into existence in 1977, so he was one of the organization's most accomplished players at the early part of its history.

Carty hit 204 career home runs, including a career-best 31 in that 1978 season. He had 11 with the A's in addition to his 20 with the Blue Jays. He crossed the 100-RBI plateau in 1970 when he had 101. He also had 99 in 1978 when he was 38 years old.

He spent time in his career in the outfield, at first base and at designated hitter.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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