Joe Carter

Best known for his home run that won the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays, Joe Carter is known to Wichitans as the player that put Wichita State baseball on the map.

Carter, from Oklahoma City, came to WSU as a football and baseball player in 1979.  The Shocker baseball program had been revived by Gene Stephenson just one year earlier.  Carter played football only one season.

On the baseball field, Carter was Wichita State’s first All-American and was named All-American each of his three seasons.  He still holds WSU career records for hitting (.430) and slugging percentage (.788).  Carter was NCAA Player of the Year in 1981 and was a first-round draft choice of the Chicago Cubs that same year.

After reaching the majors with the Cubs in 1983, Carter played with Cleveland, San Diego, Toronto, San Francisco and Baltimore.  He hit 296 home runs, topped 100 runs batted in ten times and was a five-time all-star in his 16-year career.

The Sporting News named Carter’s walk-off World Series-winning home run as the 16th greatest moment in major league history.

Carter was elected to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.

For more, read Joe Carter’s Society for American Baseball Research bio.