Chris Carpenter participant of 2006 Major League Baseball season
Christopher John Carpenter (born April 27, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals from 1997 to 2012. A Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series champion, he was also a three-time All-Star selection. Additionally, he was twice named the Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year, and received votes for a number of Comeback Player of the Year awards after various surmounting injuries.
The Blue Jays selected Carpenter in the first round of the 1993 amateur draft from Trinity High School in New Hampshire. He made his MLB debut for Toronto in 1997. However, injuries and ineffectiveness delayed his career before the Blue Jays released him in 2002. After the Cardinals signed him, he emerged as an ace in 2004, winning the Cy Young Award in 2005 and helping lead the Cardinals to World Series titles in 2006 and 2011. For much of his career, Carpenter relied on a cutter that produced a heavy bore and finished with a sharp drop, a 12-to-6 curveball, and a sinker.
Multiple injuries that were deemed career-threatening—including three surgeries on his elbow, two on his shoulder and another on his rib cage—caused Carpenter to miss nearly five full seasons. However, he rehabilitated and returned to pitch after each of these injuries. In nine seasons playing for the Cardinals, he won 95 regular-season games and compiled a 3.07 ERA in 197 starts and 1348+2⁄3 innings pitched. His .683 winning percentage during that period led the Major Leagues. In 18 postseason starts, he won 10 games with a 3.00 ERA over 108 innings.First World Series championship (2006)
For the second consecutive season in 2006, Carpenter was the Cardinals' Opening Day starter. At Philadelphia on April 3, he earned the victory after posting five innings in a 13–5 margin. With nine strikeouts in six innings against the Cubs on April 8, he departed with a 2–0 lead, but earned a no-decision as the Cubs won, 3–2. In an April 14 contest against Cincinnati, he allowed just one run in eight innings, but Aaron Harang—who had the game-winning hit off Carpenter—and the bullpen muzzled the Cardinals on just five hits for a 1–0 Reds triumph. Carpenter stifled the Pittsburgh Pirates for eight scoreless innings on April 19 at PNC Park and allowed just a pair of hits. After hitting the leadoff hitter, he retired 15 consecutive batters before surrendering a single in the sixth inning. In that inning, he fanned Nate McLouth for his 1,000th career strikeout.Making his 200th career start against the Pirates on April 24, Carpenter earned the decision in a 7–2 win. On June 13 against the Pirates, he struck out a personal and club season-high 13 batters, allowing just three hits in a 2–1 win. He was voted to his second All-Star Game in July. He picked up his first victory against the last remaining club of he had not yet defeated—besides the Cardinals, whom he never faced in his career—the Atlanta Braves on July 4. He worked five innings in a rain-interrupted outing against the Braves on July 4 at Turner Field for that first career victory. In a complete game-shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 14, he allowed just two hits and struck out seven in a 5–0 win. It was his tenth career shutout and fifth as a Cardinal. Following that contest, Carpenter was named the NL Player of the Week for the All Star-shortened week of July 13–16. His nine innings pitched paced the league and he was also tied for the league lead in ERA at 0.00.Debuting in Coors Field on July 25 against the Rockies, Carpenter combined with Randy Flores and Jason Isringhausen for the Cardinals' first-ever shutout win (1–0) in Denver. Winless in his previous three starts after allowing 15 runs in 17 innings, he pitched a four-hitter against the Reds on August 15 for his 11th career shutout. Only one runner reached second base while Carpenter struck out six and walked none. The next start, he was the winning pitcher in a 5–3 victory over the Cubs, allowing two runs on seven innings. Along with teammate Chris Duncan, Carpenter was named NL co-Player of the Week for the week ending August 20. In two starts against the Reds and Cubs, he tallied 17 innings, was charged with a 1.06 ERA and struck out 13 without issuing a walk.On September 11, Carpenter shut out the Astros in a 7–0 final score for his fourth complete game and third shutout of the season. It was also his 50th win as a Cardinal. He became the third member of the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff to gain his 100th career win in 2006, joining Jeff Suppan and Mark Mulder in a September 16 matchup against the San Francisco Giants. Facing former teammate Matt Morris for the first time, the Cardinals were victorious, 6–1. Carpenter used a newly evolved curveball over seven completed innings, allowing the lone run in the eighth inning. That run stopped a personal streak of 22 scoreless innings at home. Winning his third National League Player of the Week Award for the week ending September 16, he allowed just a 0.56 ERA with 15 strikeouts and a 2–0 record. Included in those totals were the games against Houston and San Francisco. For the season, he posted a 3.09 ERA with 15 wins in 221+2⁄3 innings. His three shutouts led the Major Leagues and 1.069 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) led the National League.
With the Cardinals facing the Padres in the NLDS for the second consecutive season, Carpenter won both his starts and yielded a 2.03 ERA while striking out 12 in 13+1⁄3 innings. He was less effective against the New York Mets in the NLCS, allowing a 5.73 ERA while losing one of two starts. Carpenter made his first World Series start in Game 3 against the Detroit Tigers on October 24 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. He pitched eight shutout innings, allowing no runs on three hits and striking out six. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, that performance made him the first pitcher in Cardinals history to pitch eight innings and allow no walks and no more than three hits in a World Series contest. Just two other pitchers in the prior 20 seasons had accomplished the feat: Greg Maddux (1995) and Clemens (2000). The Cardinals prevailed in five games over the Tigers, giving him his first World Series ring. Carpenter finished third in the NL Cy Young balloting behind Brandon Webb and Trevor Hoffman, and 19th in the NL MVP voting, second to Hoffman among pitchers. His teammates voted him as that season's Darryl Kile Good Guy Award winner for the Cardinals. On December 4, 2006, the Cardinals announced they re-signed Carpenter to a five-year, US$65 million deal, keeping him with the team through 2011, with a $12 million option for 2012.