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Cards hitters say this Carpenter is "electric"
By Dan O'Neill
Of the Post-Dispatch
02/27/2004
JUPITER, Fla. - It was one day a few weeks ago, one phenomenal day. Chris Carpenter began throwing a baseball, throwing it extremely hard, making it dip and move. He was throwing to college kids near his home in Exeter, N.H., when he started throwing stuff college kids don't normally see. The kind of stuff big-leaguers are made of, the kind of stuff that gets big-leaguers out.
"I could get out and throw that ball down and away to righties, which is the toughest pitch to throw," Carpenter said. "My location was there, my breaking ball was back to normal, and my changeup was back to normal, which meant I was getting out in front and letting it go. Yeah, there was one day when I knew that I was going to be OK.
"I came home and my wife said, 'How did it feel?' And I said it feels great. I started whooping and hollering. It was at home, so I didn't have to control myself. It was the first time in however long it's been that I felt like I did (three) years ago."
Pitching has been the topic of conversation in the NL Central. The Chicago Cubs rode a talented young staff to the playoffs last season, then upped the ante by adding Greg Maddux this winter. They are picked to win the division. The Houston Astros added insult to injury when they signed Roger Clemens on the coattails of Andy Pettitte. Now baseball fever is putting football on the backburner in Texas - not easily done.
Most experts feel the arms race has left the local nine in the also-run dust. In the shadow of the prominent brewhaus on Pestalozzi, there is no joy in Sudsville.
But as a new season incubates in the Florida sun, it's possible the most important addition to the Cardinals pitching picture was already on the payroll. A healthy Carpenter represents a potential trump card, a bona fide ace in the hole.
After facing Carpenter in a batting practice session on Thursday, Greg Vaughn said, "The guy is electric." Vaughn is a veteran of 15 big-league seasons and 355 big-league home runs. He is hoping to earn an outfield assignment with the club this spring. But if he had to make an impression batting against Carpenter, he would have a hard way to go.
"If he's healthy, he's going to help any big-league team," Vaughn said. "I faced him a number of times in the American League and he's right back where he was."
Maybe he's even better. Carpenter won 42 games for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1998 to 2001. But in 2002, he was limited to 13 starts before his season ended with surgery to repair his right shoulder. The Cardinals signed Carpenter during the winter meetings in 2002, hoping he would pitch by midseason in 2003.
But after eight months of rehab, and an aborted attempt to pitch, he was back at square one. He had additional surgery in late July and was out for the season. The adversity has been the most demanding period of his still-young baseball life. Carpenter spent an entire season in a new clubhouse, awkwardly trying to fit in off the field while never participating on the field.
"One, I didn't know a whole lot of people, being with a new team," Carpenter, 28, said. "Two, I hadn't done anything. And three, I'm stealing money for doing nothing in a new organization. It was tough. No matter what people think, it's tough for players in that position, to get paid the amount of money we get paid and not be able to contribute.
"Besides my family, this is the most important thing in my life. And being able to compete, every five days, to try to win is what it's all about."
Fortunately, support from his teammates and the most important person in his life helped keep him sane. His wife, Alyson, was his high school sweetheart. She has been on this baseball ride from the outset, knows what it means to her husband, knows what to say. "She's been there for me the whole time and continued to push me," Carpenter said. "She knows if I didn't play I would drive her more nuts."
Fifteen months ago, the couple welcomed their first child, Sam. Babies keep you as busy as you like, and keep your perspective perfectly clear. "He's taken up a lot of our time," Carpenter said. "We've been able to forget about a lot of the stuff affecting us on the field."
Then came that day when it was OK to remember, that day when everything felt right. And now exists the distinct possibility that there is a silver lining. All the strength and conditioning work Carpenter has done the past two years might do more than bring him back; it might will propel him to another level.
"Unfortunately, I had to have something like this happen to make me realize you have to work to stay healthy, to keep something like this from happening," Carpenter said. "I've never done as many shoulder exercises, I've never worked out as hard as I have for the past two years. All I've been able to do is work out and get my arm strong.
"Plus, being as mentally low as you can be, committing to work as hard as you can work to get back to where we're at, makes you mentally tougher. It matures you 1,000 times. Now, I'm going to make sure I'm going to get all my work done, no matter how long it takes. I don't cut myself short of anything I have to do."
So, if you want to hitch your wagon to Chris Carpenter, bring it on. If you want to suggest he is the X factor that elevates this otherwise capable staff to a contending one, go ahead. The challenge is something Carpenter embraces and failure is something he disdains.
"Nobody is going to put more pressure on himself than me," he said. "The bottom line is, taking on that role, it doesn't matter to me. Because I know if I can go out and do my job every day, in between starts and every fifth day, the success is going to be there."
Vaughn, Reggie Sanders, Ray Lankford and John Mabry stood in while Carpenter fired darts last Thursday. Rarely did the overmatched make solid contract.
If all goes according to plan, soon it will be a game that counts in Busch Stadium, not batting practice in Florida. Carpenter will stride from the dugout, climb a mound of dirt he is so eager to climb and pitch for fans who have never seen him pitch. It will be like that one day a few weeks ago, one day long in the making, one glorious day.
"For one thing, I'm going to be proud of myself, from where I was to where I'm at now and to be back out there, I'm going to feel good about what I've done," Carpenter said. "And I'm going to feel good to finally pitch for this team and this organization. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be awesome."
By Dan O'Neill
Of the Post-Dispatch
02/27/2004
JUPITER, Fla. - It was one day a few weeks ago, one phenomenal day. Chris Carpenter began throwing a baseball, throwing it extremely hard, making it dip and move. He was throwing to college kids near his home in Exeter, N.H., when he started throwing stuff college kids don't normally see. The kind of stuff big-leaguers are made of, the kind of stuff that gets big-leaguers out.
"I could get out and throw that ball down and away to righties, which is the toughest pitch to throw," Carpenter said. "My location was there, my breaking ball was back to normal, and my changeup was back to normal, which meant I was getting out in front and letting it go. Yeah, there was one day when I knew that I was going to be OK.
"I came home and my wife said, 'How did it feel?' And I said it feels great. I started whooping and hollering. It was at home, so I didn't have to control myself. It was the first time in however long it's been that I felt like I did (three) years ago."
Pitching has been the topic of conversation in the NL Central. The Chicago Cubs rode a talented young staff to the playoffs last season, then upped the ante by adding Greg Maddux this winter. They are picked to win the division. The Houston Astros added insult to injury when they signed Roger Clemens on the coattails of Andy Pettitte. Now baseball fever is putting football on the backburner in Texas - not easily done.
Most experts feel the arms race has left the local nine in the also-run dust. In the shadow of the prominent brewhaus on Pestalozzi, there is no joy in Sudsville.
But as a new season incubates in the Florida sun, it's possible the most important addition to the Cardinals pitching picture was already on the payroll. A healthy Carpenter represents a potential trump card, a bona fide ace in the hole.
After facing Carpenter in a batting practice session on Thursday, Greg Vaughn said, "The guy is electric." Vaughn is a veteran of 15 big-league seasons and 355 big-league home runs. He is hoping to earn an outfield assignment with the club this spring. But if he had to make an impression batting against Carpenter, he would have a hard way to go.
"If he's healthy, he's going to help any big-league team," Vaughn said. "I faced him a number of times in the American League and he's right back where he was."
Maybe he's even better. Carpenter won 42 games for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1998 to 2001. But in 2002, he was limited to 13 starts before his season ended with surgery to repair his right shoulder. The Cardinals signed Carpenter during the winter meetings in 2002, hoping he would pitch by midseason in 2003.
But after eight months of rehab, and an aborted attempt to pitch, he was back at square one. He had additional surgery in late July and was out for the season. The adversity has been the most demanding period of his still-young baseball life. Carpenter spent an entire season in a new clubhouse, awkwardly trying to fit in off the field while never participating on the field.
"One, I didn't know a whole lot of people, being with a new team," Carpenter, 28, said. "Two, I hadn't done anything. And three, I'm stealing money for doing nothing in a new organization. It was tough. No matter what people think, it's tough for players in that position, to get paid the amount of money we get paid and not be able to contribute.
"Besides my family, this is the most important thing in my life. And being able to compete, every five days, to try to win is what it's all about."
Fortunately, support from his teammates and the most important person in his life helped keep him sane. His wife, Alyson, was his high school sweetheart. She has been on this baseball ride from the outset, knows what it means to her husband, knows what to say. "She's been there for me the whole time and continued to push me," Carpenter said. "She knows if I didn't play I would drive her more nuts."
Fifteen months ago, the couple welcomed their first child, Sam. Babies keep you as busy as you like, and keep your perspective perfectly clear. "He's taken up a lot of our time," Carpenter said. "We've been able to forget about a lot of the stuff affecting us on the field."
Then came that day when it was OK to remember, that day when everything felt right. And now exists the distinct possibility that there is a silver lining. All the strength and conditioning work Carpenter has done the past two years might do more than bring him back; it might will propel him to another level.
"Unfortunately, I had to have something like this happen to make me realize you have to work to stay healthy, to keep something like this from happening," Carpenter said. "I've never done as many shoulder exercises, I've never worked out as hard as I have for the past two years. All I've been able to do is work out and get my arm strong.
"Plus, being as mentally low as you can be, committing to work as hard as you can work to get back to where we're at, makes you mentally tougher. It matures you 1,000 times. Now, I'm going to make sure I'm going to get all my work done, no matter how long it takes. I don't cut myself short of anything I have to do."
So, if you want to hitch your wagon to Chris Carpenter, bring it on. If you want to suggest he is the X factor that elevates this otherwise capable staff to a contending one, go ahead. The challenge is something Carpenter embraces and failure is something he disdains.
"Nobody is going to put more pressure on himself than me," he said. "The bottom line is, taking on that role, it doesn't matter to me. Because I know if I can go out and do my job every day, in between starts and every fifth day, the success is going to be there."
Vaughn, Reggie Sanders, Ray Lankford and John Mabry stood in while Carpenter fired darts last Thursday. Rarely did the overmatched make solid contract.
If all goes according to plan, soon it will be a game that counts in Busch Stadium, not batting practice in Florida. Carpenter will stride from the dugout, climb a mound of dirt he is so eager to climb and pitch for fans who have never seen him pitch. It will be like that one day a few weeks ago, one day long in the making, one glorious day.
"For one thing, I'm going to be proud of myself, from where I was to where I'm at now and to be back out there, I'm going to feel good about what I've done," Carpenter said. "And I'm going to feel good to finally pitch for this team and this organization. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be awesome."
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