Rico Carty is an Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer and currently holds the prestige of being Talkin’ Tomahawk’s number-one left-fielder in Atlanta Braves franchise history.

Beyond his on and off-the-field contributions, Carty was always getting into fights. It didn’t matter if the other guy was a legend like Hank Aaron or Ron Santo, managers like Whitey Herzog, Eddie Matthews, or Frank Robinson, or how about three police officers? Don’t even get Rico started on the umpires!

Rico Carty lived up to his reputation as a troublemaker over the years. His antics led to multiple trades during his career.

Below we document some of the notable kerfuffles Rico Carty found himself involved with.

Why Rico Carty Was Known as a Troublemaker

Carty had a reputation for stirring the pot, shall we say? His fiery energy and spirited play made him a fan favorite. The leftfield stands were deemed “Carty’s Corner.” Despite his fan-favorite status, he found plenty of enemies on the field.

• 1967: Fined $50 for insulting an umpire.
• June 18th, 1967: “brief but heated scuffle” with none other than Hank Aaron. Hank was mad about Carty’s lack of effort on a flyball. The fight took place 35,000 feet in the air on a flight from Houston to Los Angeles. Manager Billy Hitchcock addressed the situation by stating:
  “It was one of those things that happen on a ball club. It isn’t the first time two players have lost their tempers and probably won’t be the last.” The Braves were seeking to trade Carty by the end of the year. While they wouldn’t go through with a deal then, this would become a theme throughout his career.
• November 29th, 1969: Fined $500 by MLB for shoving umpire Bill Hatch in the Dominican League. MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn called the Carty’s behavior “inexcusable and intolerable.”
• 1970: Fight with teammate Ron Reed during Carty’s All-Star season.
• August 24, 1971: Carty and his brother-in-law got in a fight with two off-duty police officers. Carty said one of the officers used a racial slur directed toward him. A fight ensued and an on-duty officer intervened. All three used excessive and unnecessary force.
• October 27, 1972: Braves traded Rico Carty to Rangers since the AL was adopting the DH and partly because he was at odds with Atlanta’s first-year manager Eddie Mathews.
• 1972: Rangers manager Whitey Herzog was not deterred by Carty’s reputation. He declared that he wanted “ballplayers, not Boy Scouts.” Carty nearly came to blows with Whitey Herzog on the field during a game. He was traded after just 86 games from the Rangers to the Cubs. Herzog did say he wanted ballplayers, and Carty was slashing just .232/.311/.301.
• 1973: This may come as a surprise, but Carty did not get along with Cubs veteran player Ron Santo. The Cubs traded Carty to the Athletics.
• Between 1974-1977 Carty played for Cleveland and had several run-ins with manager Frank Robinson. As a result, Robinson was actually fired.

If you have more Carty scuffles you’d like to add, leave them in the comments.

Despite the track record of altercations and the resulting alterations to his living and employment locations, Carty was respected by his peers, his managers, and the entire baseball community. He was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2023.