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Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Chris Carpenter’s career may be over

Chris Carpenter, the longtime ace of the St. Louis Cardinals and a central figure to their two World Series championships this century, will not pitch in 2013 due to enduring shoulder numbness, putting his career in doubt.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak made the announcement Tuesday at a Busch Stadium press conference, saying Carpenter “wants to make sure whatever is going on his neck, arm if not going to preclude him from a normal life.”....

The Cardinals took advantage of an earlier injury to obtain Carpenter in 2003 after he missed a year with labrum surgery. They signed him as a free agent knowing he wouldn’t be able to pitch for about a year. He also missed most of the 2007 and ‘08 seasons because of elbow surgery, but came back to lead the NL in earned average in 2009, going 17-4 and finishing second in Cy Young Award voting.

Well poop!!!
— Jason Motte (@JMotte30) February 5, 2013

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: February 05, 2013 at 04:43 PM | 23 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: cardinals, chris carpenter, injuires

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1. zonk Posted: February 05, 2013 at 05:18 PM (#4363359)

If so -- that's one hell of a career for a guy who's career was supposed to be 'over' something like 3 times before.

2. Don Geovany Soto (chris h.) Posted: February 05, 2013 at 05:42 PM (#4363381)

I guess even the Cardinals' magic pixie dust has its limits.

3. salvomania Posted: February 05, 2013 at 05:44 PM (#4363383)

I guess even the Cardinals' magic pixie dust has its limits.

Actually, when they went into the shoulder this time they found that the pixie dust particles had abraded the ligament.

4. salvomania Posted: February 05, 2013 at 05:45 PM (#4363386)

And I guess that means they'll have to throw the open rotation spot to Shelby Miller or Trevor Rosenthal. (drool)

5. Gern Blanston Posted: February 05, 2013 at 06:31 PM (#4363432)

Good riddance to that self-righteous d0ngwrangler. Of course, as salvo points out, it just opens up a rotation slot for Miller, so it's not like we'll be lacking for opportunities for vitriol.

6. Anonymous Observer Posted: February 05, 2013 at 06:45 PM (#4363441)

Of course, as salvo points out, it just opens up a rotation slot for Miller, so it's not like we'll be lacking for opportunities for vitriol.

And since it's the Cardinals, whoever replaces Carpenter will be even better than he would have been. Which is dandy!

7. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: February 05, 2013 at 06:51 PM (#4363444)

It is still amazing to me that Carpenter and Halladay combined for 243 innings of 7.48 ERA (68 ERA+) in the same rotation for the Blue Jays in 2000. And that team still finished above .500.

8. Harveys Wallbangers

Posted: February 05, 2013 at 08:34 PM (#4363485)

it's kind of impressive that a player so routinely unpleasant still managed to maintain a positive image in the press. kevin brown should be so lucky as brown was much the better player and not nearly as acrid in his daily professional demeanor

good luck to the player in his next endeavor

9. Dolf Lucky Posted: February 05, 2013 at 08:46 PM (#4363490)

How will I explain this to my son?

10. zonk Posted: February 05, 2013 at 09:34 PM (#4363517)

How will I explain this to my son?

You could go with retro's explanation... if you're comfortable explaining what a ############ is....

11. John Northey Posted: February 05, 2013 at 10:06 PM (#4363530)

As a Jay fan it is depressing sometimes to see Carpenter's career numbers...
As a Jay: 49-50 4.83 ERA 98 ERA+ over 870 2/3 IP
As a Cardinal: 95-44 3.07 ERA 133 ERA+ over 1348 2/3 IP with 3 top 3 Cy Young finishes but also 4 seasons with a combined total of 7 starts and 1 relief outing.

But to the cheap Jays owners (at that time) $91 million in St Louis over 11 years, $7.6 million in Toronto over 6 years.

12. Meatwad denied pope, reveals he faked it at mass Posted: February 05, 2013 at 10:25 PM (#4363540)

good ####### riddance.

13. SteveM. Posted: February 05, 2013 at 11:39 PM (#4363580)

Maybe he will be joining Hawk Harrelson in the booth-if ever two people deserved each other....

14. Matthew E Posted: February 05, 2013 at 11:49 PM (#4363583)

I was against the Jays dropping him at the end of the '02 season. Sure, there wasn't much chance of him coming back from the injury; I didn't care. Oh well. Best of luck to him.

In other news, Kelvim Escobar is trying to make a comeback...

15. Davo Mastroianni Posted: February 06, 2013 at 12:30 AM (#4363606)

David Wells shows up on his list of most similar pitchers through age 36.

If he'd have just finished his career the way Wells finished his, Carpenter would have wound up with the following stat-line:

242-152, 3.94 ERA in 3,581 innings, 51.5 WAR.

16. BourbonSamurai, vassal of the Harpsburg Empire Posted: February 06, 2013 at 12:39 AM (#4363607)

As a Jay fan it is depressing sometimes to see Carpenter's career numbers...
As a Jay: 49-50 4.83 ERA 98 ERA+ over 870 2/3 IP
As a Cardinal: 95-44 3.07 ERA 133 ERA+ over 1348 2/3 IP with 3 top 3 Cy Young finishes but also 4 seasons with a combined total of 7 starts and 1 relief outing.

Not to pile on, but that doesn't even mention his 10-4, 3.00 ERA in 108 Postseason IPs.

17. Sleepy supports unauthorized rambling Posted: February 06, 2013 at 12:56 AM (#4363612)

Well, isn't that a ####### ####### ##### of a #########.

Despite his regular, enthusiastic, and often embarrassing on-field antics, Carpenter was a ########### warrior. I doubt if I would enjoy drinking a beer with him, but I'll always respect the things he did on the field, and there's no one I'd rather see pitch a game 7. CCDGAFAPG7.

Maybe he will be joining Hawk Harrelson in the booth-if ever two people deserved each other....

He'd be ######## awesome in a booth with Vince Coleman or Ozzie Smith. Pretty sure he'd throw Hawk Harrelson out the press box window by about the middle of the second week, though.

18. Non-Youkilidian Geometry Posted: February 06, 2013 at 09:05 AM (#4363666)

Pretty sure he'd throw Hawk Harrelson out the press box window by about the middle of the second week, though.

You make it sound that like that's a bad thing.

19. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: February 06, 2013 at 09:57 AM (#4363682)

Well poop!!!

He sounds really enthusiastic about the prospect of ruining someone's drinking water.

Live the dream, I guess.

20. salvomania Posted: February 06, 2013 at 11:57 AM (#4363802)

I think my favorite great memory of Carpenter is his complete-game 1-hitter against Roy Halladay and the Phillies in the clinching Game 5 of the 2011 NLCS, which came on the heels of his complete-game, 2 hit, 11-K shutout in Game 162 to finish the Cardinals' dramatic regular-season run and propel them into the postseason.

21. Matthew E Posted: February 06, 2013 at 12:27 PM (#4363841)

Here's a thing I wrote just before that game.

22. phredbird

Posted: February 06, 2013 at 02:06 PM (#4363972)

he's the quintessential 'glad-when-he's-on-my-team-hate-him-otherwise' player.

i was thinking he'd sit out '13 and try again in '14 if he was still under contract, but he's not. so, this could be it.

23. philphan Posted: February 06, 2013 at 02:16 PM (#4363987)

How will I explain this to my son?

You could explain that he bought a farm in Texas....

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Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Chris Carpenter’s career may be over

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