St. Louis Cardinals fans were not crushed by the four game sweep laid on their team in the 2004 World Series. They were not happy, but they were not discouraged.
They would have Chris Carpenter back for 2005,
In 2004, Carpenter was 15-5 with a 3.53 ERA when he felt a pull in his forearm on a pitch to Shea Hillebrand of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He made one pitch, left the game and didn’t pitch again that season.
Part of a nerve in one of his muscles was damaged. Interestingly, it healed basically by itself.
Carpenter had a 2005 season worthy of a Cy Young Award winner. He won 21 games, had 2.83 ERA, a 150 ERA+ and a 1.055 WHIP.
The Cardinals enjoyed a big lead over the second place Houston Astros in September, but Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan refused to have Carpenter skip a start or two in order to rest him.
Duncan, the best pitching coach in the game, explained.
“A lot of people say the innings are going to wear on you, but if you conduct your conditioning properly, do all the preventative maintenance that you’re supposed to do–and Chris does–you actually should get stronger. Where you have a problem is when you back off your conditioning. Then fatigue can set in. I guarantee you Chris is a lot stronger now than he was the first day of the season.”
Carpenter did his part in the playoffs.
He opened up the first round against the San Diego Padres and Jake Peavy. It was no contest. The Cards led 8-0 after six innings.
La Russa pulled Carpenter and the bullpen frightened the fans as Brad Thompson, Randy Flores, Cal Eldred and Jason Isringhausen were all scored upon. The final score was 8-5.
The Cards won the next two games and faced the Houston Astros in the NLCS.
Forget that the Cardinals had won 100 regular season games to finish 11 games ahead of Houston.
Forget that Astros starters included former New York Yankees Roger Clemens, who has been charged with lying about using substances frowned upon by those in power and Andy Pettitte, who admitted using steroids.
Money trumps fairness. Is everybody ready to play some baseball?
Carpenter beat Pettitte in the series opener, allowing only two runs in eight innings. Roy Oswalt limited the Cards to a single run in the second for a 4-1 win.
Matt Morris lost the third game to Clemens and then New York Mets favorite Jeff Suppan, along with Jason Marquis, pitched just good enough to lose. The Astros touched Marquis for a seventh inning run to win, 2-1.
Carpenter and the Cards won Game 5 against Pettitte, but the Cardinals lost the sixth game to Oswalt.
The Cardinals made a fine recovery from the 2004 World Series loss. The were a far superior team to the 2005 Astros.
Carpenter had a great season and pitched effectively in the playoffs. He should have won the Cy Young Award, but he who plays fairly doesn’t always win.
Source Citation
McNeal, Stan. “Looking out for no. 1: the playoff picture is fuzzy, but this is clear: Chris Carpenter will be the most important player in the postseason and the reason the Cardinals win it all.” The Sporting News 7 Oct. 2005: 12+. General OneFile. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.