Cardinals’ Carpenter NL Cy guy
Righty beats out Marlins’ Willis ‘I can’t believe I won,’ ex- Jay says
NEW YORK—
Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals won the NL Cy Young Award yesterday, capping a satisfying comeback from shoulder surgery that jeopardized his career only two years ago.
After going 21- 5 with a 2.83 ERA, Carpenter received 19 of 32 first- place votes and finished with 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He beat out Florida lefty Dontrelle Willis, becoming the first Cardinals pitcher to claim the honour since Bob Gibson in 1970.
“I can’t believe I won,” said Carpenter, a former Blue Jay. “ Two years ago, I didn’t know if I was ever going to pitch again.’’
Willis, who was 22- 10 with a 2.63 ERA, was listed first on 11 ballots, second on 18 and third on three for 112 points. Seventime winner Roger Clemens got the other two first- place votes and came in a distant third.
Carpenter missed the entire 2003 season after undergoing surgery to repair a tear in his pitching shoulder. The Cardinals remained patient. Yet at that point, who knew if they would ever get much from him?
“I really felt that there was more in there,” the right- hander said. “ When I came back last year, I knew I wasn’t going to take anything for granted. . . . Mentally, I grew up a lot.’’
Finally healthy in 2004, Carpenter went 15- 5 with a 3.46 ERA to earn NL comeback player of the year honours. This year, he won 13 straight decisions from June 14 through Sept. 8, helping the Cards to the best record in baseball ( 100- 62). He threw 2412⁄ innings and struck out 213 batters.
“ I was locked in mentally for a very long period of time,” he said.
Carpenter gets a $ 50,000 ( U. S.) bonus for winning the award.