Subject: Chris Carpenter

• Opening Day 2008: Winning and Losing

  March 31, 2008

• Opening Day 2008: Winning and Losing

  March 31, 2008

• Welcome Back, Mark Mulder

  July 1, 2008

• Requiem For a Prospect: Anthony Reyes, Now Traded to Cleveland, Used to be the Next Big Thing

  July 28, 2008

• Chris Carpenter's Return Encouraging

  July 31, 2008

• Watching Cardinals' Bullpen is Second-Worst Pain Ever

  August 6, 2008

• Pineiro Will Likely Move Over for Returning Wainwright

  August 7, 2008

• Looper vs. Lohse: Fight to the Death!

  August 14, 2008

• An Injured Chris Carpenter's Humanity Revealed in Post-Game Interview

  September 25, 2008

• Born to Lohse: Extending Kyle Lohse's Contract Won't Win the Cardinals a Championship

  September 29, 2008

• Cardinals Pass on Arbitration for Isringhausen and More

  At 11:00 p.m. central time on Monday, baseball's arbitration deadline passed. And one of the most puzzling storylines of the off-season began.

  December 2, 2008

• The Winter Meetings, Day One: A.J. Burnett, Anyone?

  My father called me just a little while ago, all excited. Apparently, Fox Sports is reporting that the Cardinals are going to major players for A.J. Burnett. He heard in on the radio on his way in to work; a cursory search of the Fox Web site leads us to Ken Rosenthal's story. Rosenthal usually has his stuff straight; if he says it's being discussed, it most likely is. Whether or not it comes to pass, of course, is anybody's guess, but I trust Rosenthal to be accurate in his reporting. You

  December 8, 2008

• Bloggers React to Cards GM's Infamous Online Spat with Fans

  UPDATE: More comments from Chuck Brownson, a blogger at Viva El Birdos, are at the bottom of this post.In July 2007 I wrote an article for the RFT about the increasing influence that statistically-minded baseball blogs were starting to have on the day-to-day operations of the teams they cover. In addition to discussing the remarkable circumstances that led to a Seattle Mariners blog called the U.S.S. Mariner directly influencing the approach of their star young pitcher Felix Hernandez, I asked T

  January 27, 2009

• Ben Sheets Breaks Elbow, Local Writer's Heart

  My personal cheeseball this off-season, the man they call Sheets, is going under the knife. The Texas Rangers apparently discovered a tear in the flexor tendon of his throwing arm when performing the mandatory physical required for a contract to be finalized. Now the deal is dead, and Ben Sheets is headed for surgery. I really hate to see this, both from the perspective of ordinary sympathy for a fellow human being and that of a fan who thought Sheets could be a significant asset to his fav

  February 6, 2009

• Last Night: The Blues "Pull an Izzy"

  Jason IsringhausenWith a scant twelve minutes to go in the third period last night, it looked as if all was well in Bluesland. The Note found themselves up 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks, thanks to another strong showing by goalie Chris Mason, as well as goals from Steve Wagner, Brad Boyes, and Keith Tkachuk. All they had to do was hold on for a little more than half a period, and victory, as well as two badly-needed points, was theirs. And that's when it all started to go downhill.By the t

  February 11, 2009

• Top 10 Stories about the 2009 St. Louis Cardinals

  Spring training is officially underway, with real, no-foolin' games being played and everything. The beginning of a long, twisty road that leads through summer and into autumn, hopefully ending late in October with a nice, new piece of hardware to add to the trophy case at Busch Stadium.At the very least, it promises to be an interesting season, one which will likely go a long ways toward deciding how the fan base views the Cardinals' new-found commitment to a build-from-within philosophy. In fa

  February 26, 2009

• Chris Carpenter is Only Going to Break Our Hearts

  edwinknip.comYou're a heartbreaker. Dream maker, love-taker.I've been trying really, really hard this spring not to get too very excited about Chris Carpenter. All along, I've tried to take the same stance toward him that I eventually had to take regarding Mark Mulder; i.e. I don't expect him to pitch, I don't even really think of him as part of the team, if he does do anything, hey, awesome surprise. But yesterday, I watched Carpenter carve up what should be a pretty damned good Baltimore

  March 19, 2009

• RFT readers prove that it's never the off-season in Cardinal Nation

  October 22, 2008

• Unreal News Challenge 2007

  Week of December 27, 2007

  December 26, 2007

• Last Night: Tony Takes his Best Shot with Brad Thompson

  That very well may have been the worst game of the year. Now, I know that it's only the ninth game of this young season. I don't mean it was the worst so far. I mean that if we actually see a worse game all season, it's going to shock the living shit out of me, because honestly, I just don't see how a game could actually suck more than that contest we witnessed last night. On the upside, the Cards are still playing very well, with a 6-3 record. On the downside, well, that's sort of what I w

  April 15, 2009

• The Times, They Are A-Changin'

  But St. Louis sportswriters unapologetically cast MVP ballots

  November 16, 2005

• Two Kind

  November 8, 2006

• Talkin' Baseball

  Matching the playoff-rockin' Cardinals with some appropriate tunes

  October 5, 2005

• Baseball Card of the Week: Mitchell Boggs Steps Up

  2005 Mitchell Boggs card, by BowmanWhen Chris Carpenter went on the DL with an oblique injury, I must admit to feeling more than a little nervous about the Cardinals' rotation. There was some decent talent, yes, but the depth? Not really there. "If the Cards have to start reaching into the minors to try and fill the void on the pitching staff," I thought, "things could get ugly in a hurry."So far, though, that hasn't happened. Look at the performance Mitchell Boggs turned in the first time

  May 8, 2009

• Maybe Duncan's Just Too Busy?

  Adam Wainwright has discovered a flaw in his delivery, and will shortly be back to perennial Cy Young contender form. He and Chris Carpenter, papier mache ace extraordinaire, were looking at some video yesterday, and, wonder of wonders, they found out what was wrong with Adam's mechanics! I'm a little curious, though: where was Dave Duncan in all of this? 

  May 11, 2009

• Baseball Card of the Week- Adam Wainwright

  Things got scary for a little while there with Adam Wainwright, I have to admit. It wasn't just that he was struggling, it was the way that he was struggling. He was all over the place, and when he did manage to throw a strike, it got whacked all over the yard. Wainwright didn't even look like the same pitcher that we've all come to know and love seeing take the mound. 

  May 22, 2009

• The Return of Chris Carpenter

  So how did Chris Carpenter look in his big return? Well, he looked like Chris Carpenter, to be completely honest. Actually, that's not entirely true. He did have to get out of a couple jams, after all. 

  May 21, 2009

• Roster Problems

  Yesterday afternoon, we saw what was, in my ever so humble opinion, the best start so far this year from a Cardinal go to waste. Chris Carpenter deserves some apologies, and a better outcome next time out. The question, of course, is how do you get him a better outcome next time? 

  May 26, 2009

• Tigers at Cardinals: Anatomy of a Beatdown

  Sunday night, the Cardinals played the Cleveland Indians on ESPN and were dominated. Not just beaten, but absolutely humiliated by the sinister wizardry of one Clifford Lee. Last night, that same Cardinal squad blew Justin Verlander right off the field, with five runs in a mere four innings. I think it's fair to ask the question: just what was so different? 

  June 17, 2009

• Map Locations At A Glance: Baseball Homes Of The Stars

  July 8, 2009

• The Cardinals Second Half Preview

  First, and most importantly, you'll have to forgive the lack of a clever title. I thought and thought, then thought some more, and really just didn't like any of the options I came up with. Some were too obscure, some not obscure enough, some didn't make much sense, still others lacked any tie to the subject at hand. Thus, in the interest of clarity, I give you this dull and lifeless title. Nonetheless, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive. Second, does it bother anyone else that

  July 17, 2009

• Game Notes: Cardinals 10, Dodgers 0 - A Vintage Ass Kicking

  -- Chad Billingsley is really, really good. It isn't often you see a pitcher with that kind of ability, that combination of velocity, movement, and location. Personally, I think Billingsley needs to learn to use both sides of the plate more effectively, as he essentially stays in the same area all game long, especially to right-handed hitters. Working to the third base side of the plate more often would add another dimension to what is already a pretty impressive repertoire. You might be as

  July 29, 2009

• Game Notes: Cardinals 3, Trolley Dodgers 2 17/08/09 - The Best Day Ever

  A couple of years ago, back when Charlie Haeger was floating around between Triple A and the majors with the White Sox, I was really hoping the Cardinals might check into acquiring him. At the time, it didn't look as if Chicago had a whole lot of use for him, and I thought he would make a great pickup for the Cards. This was in 2007, I believe, when our own starting rotation was coming apart at the seams and Mike Maroth was taking the mound with disturbing regularity. Plus, Haeger just sounds li

  August 18, 2009

• A Serious Number of Amazing Things About Chris Carpenter

  Chris Carpenter is 11-0 since the beginning of July. In that time, he has held opponents to a batting line of .240/.286/.312, good for an OPS of .598. Basically, Chris Carpenter turns every major league hitter into a slightly more potent batter than this guy. Chris Carpenter is one of only two pitchers in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals to have multiple 10-game winning streaks. Bob Gibson is the other. Dizzy Dean didn't do it. John Tudor didn't do it. Bob Forsch didn't do it. Jesse H

  September 8, 2009

• An Extension for El Piñata?

  Sure, he hasn't actually pitched like a piñata this year, but it's just too good a nickname to stop now. ​Apparently, Joel Piñeiro really wants to stick around with the Cardinals a while longer. He has reportedly told his agent to get a deal done that will keep him here if at all possible. Seems like a nice story, right? Piñeiro reinvents himself as a pitcher, becoming one of the top sinker-ballers in the league, then signs a nice deal to stay with the team -- and coaching staff --

  September 16, 2009

• Game Notes: Cardinals 13, Redlegs 0, 1/10/09 -- Carpenter Does it Himself

  The Cardinals have had many, many great hitting pitchers in their long and illustrious history. Bob Gibson hit 24 home runs in his career and posted a .751 OPS in 1970. Mark Mulder was a designated hitter during his college career at Michigan State, as was Dan Haren at Pepperdine. Jason Marquis is a former Silver Slugger award winner. Both players in the worst trade the Cardinals have ever made, Rick Wise for Steve Carlton, were very good hitters. So there is plenty of history in the annals of C

  October 1, 2009

• Back In the Saddle (Hopefully, Anyway)

  For the past couple of weeks, I've been feeling really kind of rough. Not sick, necessarily, but just not all that well. Every few days, I would feel a little better, but then the next day it would be right back down. I had a hell of a time mustering the wherewithall to complete much of anything. No energy, kind of just icky, you know? I didn't think too much of it at the time; just the cost of doing business when you've got too many hours worth of work to get into the day.So anyway, I spent the

  October 7, 2009

• Post-Season Throwdown: What They're Saying in New York, Denver, Minneapolis

  ​Coming off the three-hour, 54-minute letdown last night in Los Angeles, there's nothing we want more than to look ahead to this afternoon's Game 2 start time of 5:07 p.m. and put Matt Holliday's plate failures and Chris Carpenter's perplexing inability to find the outside of the plate behind us.To get your mind off all that -- if only for a few brief moments on this saturated Thursday afternoon -- here's what they're saying in other cities. Take comfort: that the nail-biting, cursing, nervous

  October 8, 2009

• NLDS Game One Recap: Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3

  Okay, so it wasn't quite the start the Cardinals were hoping for. Okay, so maybe that isn't quite strong enough. ​Going into last night's game, the Cardinals should have been confident. Hell, even I was confident, and I am never, ever, ever confident when it comes to October baseball. The 'Birds were facing a team they had beaten like a rented drum all season long, with their ace on the mound squaring off against a very nice, but also very beatable journeyman hurler in Randy Wolf.&nb

  October 8, 2009

• Ryan Franklin vs. Matt Holliday: Playing the Blame Game

  ​So the question must eventually be asked, you know. I don't want to have to ask it, and I'm sure you probably don't want to have to try and answer, but the question will not just go away. So here goes. Who was really at fault for the Cardinals ninth-inning, two-out implosion Thursday night? Was it Matt Holliday, the man who shall now be known forevermore as Ol' Three Ball Holly, or Ryan Franklin, the Cardinals' budget-conscious, Dave Duncan reclamation project version of Brad Lidge? 

  October 10, 2009

• Let the Panic Begin: Albert Pujols to Have Elbow Surgery

  Well, we all knew it was coming eventually. Just a matter of time, really. Of course, knowing it was inevitable that Albert Pujols' balky elbow would eventually necessitate a surgical fix doesn't make it any easier to swallow when said inevitability becomes a reality. Albert is going under the knife today to have five bone spurs removed from his troublesome right elbow, and there is a very real chance this may just be the first of many surgeries. (And by the way, make sure you read the comm

  October 21, 2009

• Chris Carpenter, the Comeback Kid

  Carpenter, shortly after being shot by an opposing player. He went on to throw 6 2/3 shutout innings later that day. ​Chris Carpenter was named yesterday the National League Comeback Player of the Year by Major League Baseball. It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, of course, considering Carpenter missed almost two full seasons after having Tommy John surgery in 2007, then returned this year as a Cy Young Award contender. 

  October 28, 2009

• The Cy Young Shutout

  Cy Young agrees with me. It's a shame his namesake award didn't go to a Cardinal. Hell, he even played for the Cardinals for awhile! If anything, I'll bet he's even MORE pissed than I am!​Sigh. What? Oh, no. Nothing. No, I'm fine. It's just... no, never mind. Well, I mean, it's just that, well, see, there's this award, called the Cy Young, and each year it's given to the best pitcher in his respective league. What? Oh, no, they just have a bunch of people who vote on it. Yeah, it doe

  November 20, 2009