The St. Louis Cardinals held a press conference on Wednesday to make two announcements, one that impacts the future of the club and another that marks the end of a remarkable career.
The first item of note is that manager Mike Matheny has signed a new contract extension that will keep him with the team through the 2017 season.
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Matheny, 43, has been the skipper of the Cardinals for two seasons, and led the team to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2011 and Game 6 of the World Series this past season. Under his leadership, many of St. Louis’ top young players and prospects, including pitcher Michael Wacha, have blossomed into important players at the major league level.
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The other notable announcement made by the Cardinals was that starting pitcher Chris Carpenter is going to retire. The New Hampshire native had battled injuries over the past two seasons, which forced him to make just three appearances in 2012 and miss the entire 2013 season. The 38-year-old starter finishes his career as one of the better clutch pitchers in recent postseason history as a key part of the franchise’s 2006 and 2011 World Series titles. He finishes his career with a 144-94 record, a 3.67 ERA and 1,657 strikeouts. He was 10-4 with a 3.00 ERA and 68 strikeouts in postseason play. Carpenter also won the 2005 NL Cy Young Award.
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said that Carpenter will “go down as one of the greatest we’ve ever had.” That’s high praise from an organization with a 100-plus year history. 11 championships and many Hall of Fame players.
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