Chris Carpenter: An inseparable feature of the Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals caught their critics and admirers off guard this year when they made an exciting comeback to win the 2011 World Series. Confronted by the Texas Rangers, to wrest the best-of-seven series seemed an impossibility given the earlier dominance
of the Rangers; nonetheless, the Cardinals prevailed eventually.
While the Cardinals exhibited teamwork throughout the past season and it remains beyond doubt that their starter, Chris Carpenter played an integral role in endowing the victories on the team. The 36-year-old player virtually achieved the zenith of his career
here with an expectedly scintillating performance, winning 11 out of the 34 games that he appeared in.
The fact that personified the pitcher apart from his contemporaries, especially his opponents in 2011, was his performance in the postseason. Much to the incredible surprise of the avid onlookers, the player won 4 of the 6 decisive games in the postseason,
having an outstanding 3.25 ERA with 1.17 WHIP, having no less than 21 strikeouts to his credit.
The remarkable pitcher, with his eye-catching and breathtaking style of play, broke the supposedly invincible offence of teams like Philadelphia Phillies, which was earlier predicted to be potentially the most favourite side to win the World Series.
Faced by another virtually unbeatable pitcher from the Phillies, Roy Halladay, and Chris Carpenter came down hard on the Phillies offence to leave it incapacitated with a 1-0 win in the closely fought game 5 of the playoffs. This game was called the competition
between the best pitchers of baseball, wherein Carpenter pitched a shutout to not only outrival Halladay, but also beat the Phillies.
In the games where he had to pitch against the Texas Rangers, Chris Carpenter never failed to deliver victory for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Were it not for the starting pitcher, the Cardinals would have probably found it difficult to make their way into the World Series finals. In the win against the Phillies, the former manager of Cardinals, Tony La Russa, acknowledged the pitchers’ contributions
and said, “When you pick your rotation in a five-game series,” La Russa said Friday night, his champagne-soaked jersey still on his back, “it really comes down to this: If Carpenter doesn't pitch twice in that series … our chances of winning are not
good.”
All this comes with a determination, though. Carpenter said he had vowed not to take anything for granted and he truly lived up to his performance, indeed. He said, “When I came back last year, I had in my mind I wasn't going to take anything for granted
... I knew where I was in 2002, and all of a sudden, it was taken away from me. It's your dream and you're playing in the big leagues and it's all you've ever wanted to do.”
In the 34 games that he appeared in, Carpenter got an ERA of 3.45 with 1.26 WHIP with no less than 11 wins to his credit, losing 9 of the games in the 237.1 innings that he pitched, allowing 98 runs and having a total of 191 strikeouts.
Carpenter, beyond any shadow of doubt, remains one of the most identifiable and inseparable features of the St. Louis Cardinals. The player is expected to attain a new zenith in his life as he career moves ahead.
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