A fifteen-year career with eight different clubs, and being traded six times, very few players walked the path through the show quite like Carl Everett did. At his highs, a good power hitter with a mean Sheffield-like cut no pitcher wanted a part of. At his lows, an outspoken, struggling hitter no club wanted a part of. Some of those clubs’ fans would praise the time in which they had Everett, others would have probably preferred he never played for their team at all. Let’s take a look at the good, bad, and the ugly, of the ever-polarizing Carl Everett.
The Good
As stated previously, Carl Everett was a good power hitter. He was actually just a plain ol’ good player. So good, that he was drafted 10th overall in the 1990 Amateur Draft by none other than the New York Yankees. A standout in high school in Tampa, Florida, Everett graduated and got drafted within weeks of each other in fact.
While Everett was drafted by the Yankees, they wouldn’t be one of the eight teams he would eventually play for. Instead, Everett would play his first major league ball with the Florida Marlins via the 1992 Expansion Draft. Only playing 27 games for the Marlins over the course of the clubs first two seasons in ’93 & ’94, Florida would trade Everett to the New York Mets at the end of the ’94 season. The Mets would employ Everett as a backup/4th outfielder of sorts, and he would have an acceptable first full year, posting a .788 OPS over 79 games.
After three seasons in this role with the Mets, Everett would be traded to the Houston Astros during the 1997 Winter Meetings. It would prove to be great business for Houston, as they would acquire the prime years of Everett’s career. Prior to his first year in Houston, Everett didn’t post a batting average 260…he would finish 1998 hitting .296 and an OPS of .840.
He would then almost shatter that in the following season, hitting .325 with an OPS of .969. 25 homers, 108 RBIs and 27 stolen bases to boot, and that earned Carl Everett 12th place in the famously crowded 1999 AL MVP voting. 184 RBIs over his two-year span in Houston, a pleasant surprise from an unlikely source. The Houston run was short lived however, as Everett would again be traded. This time to Boston, ironically for another Everett, Adam Everett.
Though Carl Everett’s stint in Boston went just as long as it did in Houston, it would produce his first All-Star appearance in his first season there. Smashing 34 homers and 108 RBIs, while hitting .300 on the dot. His All-Star selection was deserving.
Jump ahead to 2005, Carl Everett finds himself in the southside of Chicago. Eventually replacing Frank Thomas as the everyday DH, he would fill in nicely for the eventual World Series Champions. Despite the .250 AVG, he would jack 23 bombs and knock in 87. Providing much needed slug after losing the Hall of Fame Thomas.
The Bad
Everett of course had his on-field struggles. It can be argued he never got a legitimate chance in Florida, but he did in New York. After his breakout first season with the Mets in ’95, his second was a major setback, and probably factored into his eventual departure. Hitting .240, a .633 OPS, and a meager 46 hits in 101 games in 1996. Everett would have another sophomore slump in Boston as well. His follow up produced a .257 AVG with 14 homers and 58 RBIs, and would never quite reproduce what He did in Houston and Boston
The Ugly
Carl. Or in this case, Jurassic Carl, certainly did not go without controversy wherever he went. It is well known in the baseball community that Carl has the belief that dinosaurs don’t exist. Insisting that bones found were “planted there” and that “somebody saw Adam and Eve eating apples. No one ever saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex”. Regardless of it being a popular belief or not, such a statement was unusual in the baseball world.
During his great year with Boston in 2000, Everett was suspended 10 games and fined for essentially headbutting an umpire. Confrontations with umpires is not a rare occurrence with Everett. Carl has stated publicly that he “likes being hated” and that he “thrives off of it”
Everett has also expressed his disagreement with homosexuality. Stating that he is against it in multiple interviews
A very talented, very frustrating player. It has to be pondered that if Everett had, let’s say, a cooler head, he would’ve had a more impressive career. It could also be argued that he was best just as he was. The one general agreement the baseball world has, is that Carl Everett was very talented. One of those bats that get so hot at times they can carry a lineup for a week maybe two. Always hit moonshot teardrop homers too. One thing we can all absolutely agree on too, was that he was never, ever boring.
