Inductees

In sports, you can measure an athlete’s height, weight and the speed of his fastball. However, there is no way to size up the true heart of a champion until they deliver on the field – a motto that defines St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the right-hander into its Class of 2015. Call it the culmination of 18 seasons in the big leagues, including 11 in St. Louis, where Carpenter greatly influenced two World Series champions and four National League pennants.

His career was in question in the summer of 2003, months after then-general manager Walt Jocketty took a chance in signing the former Toronto Blue Jays free agent pitcher. Carpenter, who had undergone surgery on his right shoulder, made only eight appearances that summer – all on injury rehab assignments in the minor leagues – and was shut down again in mid-July. His shoulder required a second, clean-up surgery.

At that point, the industry would have understood had Carpenter called it a career. After all, a comeback did not appear realistic, despite his best efforts.

However, Carpenter soldiered on, refusing to go down without a fight. Turns out, like a true heavyweight champion with laser-sharp focus, he kept up that fight over the next decade.

Using an imposing, 6-foot-6 frame and dead stare, he compiled a 95-44 record for St. Louis, and won an additional 10 postseason games. His .683 regular-season winning percentage over that period led all major league pitchers.

He became a 15-game winner on the 2004 club that won St. Louis’ first NL pennant since 1987. The next season, he won the NL Cy Young after compiling a 21-5 record and 2.83 earned run average in a whopping 221 regular-season innings.

Those two seasons were among five in which Carpenter won at least 15 games for St. Louis. His 2009 season arguably is the one often overlooked, but he led the NL with a 2.24 earned run average and won 17 games that summer.

Among many fans’ favorites is his yeoman’s effort in the deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series in October 2011.

Skip Schumaker’s run-scoring double in the first inning pushed the Cardinals in front 1-0, which turned out to be the final score. Carpenter protected the lead as if guarding Fort Knox, firing a complete-game three-hitter and outdueled the Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay. St. Louis went on to win its 11^th World Series in franchise history.

For Carpenter, it was always about doing what was right for the game. Despite being a three-time All-Star, he missed almost five full seasons because of multiple, career-threatening injuries – including three major surgeries on his elbow, two on his shoulder and another on his rib cage.

He is from Exeter, N.H., where he played Little League Baseball, Babe Ruth League and American Legion. He was all-state three years in baseball and hockey at Trinity High School in Manchester, N.H., which won the state championship his junior season. As a senior, he not only became a first-round draft pick of the Blue Jays, but he also was selected for The Boston Globe’s All-Scholastic team.

Overall, he won 60 percent of his big-league games (144-94), compiled a 3.76 ERA and pitched 2,219 regular-season innings.

Carpenter retired after the 2013 season, doing so quietly. It was vintage Carpenter. He let his game do his talking while he rode off into the sunset, ready to spend more time with his son, Sam, and daughter, Ava.

“When you think back to everything this organization has been through in regard to his ups and downs,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, “he will still go down as one of the greatest we’ve ever had. We think back to his career and what an amazing one it was. He was part of so many highlights, and I think he really created a culture of higher expectations.”