Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter
Christopher John "Chris" Carpenteris an American retired professional baseball starting pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseballfor 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. In addition, he was twice named the Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year, and voted for a number of Comeback Player of the Year awards for surmounting injury...
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth27 April 1975
CityExeter, NH
I think everybody is ready to go and we're excited about this series.
Everybody is going to be pumped up a little bit, ... I think that you've got to go out and relax and execute pitches the way I've done all year, and I'll be OK.
Everybody was excited for me. Like I said, 20's a big number, ... But I've got five (starts) left. I think about the rest of the season, and get prepared for New York on Thursday.
When you're trying to learn and establish yourself and be consistent in the major leagues, it's hard to do that with the amount of pressure everybody from the outside is putting on you. But obviously all three of us were able to continue to be successful, move on and do the things everybody expected us to be able to do.
He fits in good. Sidney has a lot of fun. He brings that aspect to the other four of us in the rotation. He makes us enjoy being together a little bit more. We're the more serious types. He's definitely a different guy when he comes to the park and it's his day to pitch. He's serious, and you know he's ready for his day. But in between starts he keeps us laughing. It's fun to have him around. Everybody in here is pulling for him. When you're around him, you can see he's a nice guy, and he's here to compete and win.
Granted, as a competitor, the games mean a lot to you. But we clinched, and there was nothing on the line anymore, everybody was talking about who we're going to play and what day we're going to play and where, all that stuff. You lose a tiny little edge and you get beat.
We had that last year, we have that this year.
The sheer number of claims and inquiries can be overwhelming -- tremendous energy is required just to get your arms around the problem.
I've been in this situation, blowing a 2-0 lead.
They are a lot like our club. They take quality at-bats. They are patient and they have an idea about what they are doing and the pitcher they are facing. They've got speed. They've got some guys who can hit the ball out of the park. They have got quality guys from top to bottom, and you've definitely got to be on your game and make quality pitches to get these guys out.
There's not a lot of people that come from this area or this state that play in the big leagues, never mind win the Cy Young, ... To be part of that is unbelievable and to be part of this situation is unbelievable. I can't believe I won.
That's the way it works. You go out and try to do the best you can to give your team a chance to win. Unfortunately, we didn't win tonight. But tomorrow, we can come back and do a better job.
I was in command of it all night,
It feels fine. I was a little stiff.