Chris Carpenter Quotations

When I was out there in the sixth, my hands and my fingers started cramping up, ... The same thing happened when I went up to hit.

We have a solid staff and we have five guys that have experience and know how to pitch. It's going to be a fun year. We've still got to go out and play the games, but we have the potential. We'll see how it plays out.

When you're trying to learn and establish yourself and be consistent in the major leagues, it's hard to do that with the amount of pressure everybody from the outside is putting on you. But obviously all three of us were able to continue to be successful, move on and do the things everybody expected us to be able to do.

When I came back last year, I had in my mind I wasn't going to take anything for granted, ... I knew where I was in 2002, and all of a sudden, it was taken away from me. It's your dream and you're playing in the big leagues and it's all you've ever wanted to do.

Oh yeah. I knew. I got a little careless in the sixth with the catcher there, throwing him a bunch of breaking balls in a row. That's why it's so hard to do it. I wasn't concerned about it. I wanted to win the game, and we did.

Shows consistency. But that's what my goal is: trying to be consistent as often as I can. I've said this (before): If you go out and be consistent and give this team a chance to win with the defense, offense and bullpen we have, we're going to win a lot of games.

Since the time in Oakland to now he's become a different pitcher. Now he pitches. He's thinking about location. He's thinking about the count. He's thinking about working the hitter. He's not just thinking about heaving the ball as hard as he can.

Obviously, it's a big number, ... But I've got five (starts) left, I think, the rest of the season. I'll start getting prepared for New York on Wednesday.

I was so locked in the whole season and then we clinched, and there were some other things going on that you start looking ahead, ... By keeping myself fresh and staying healthy to get me through the end of the season you lose that little edge.

I got my work in and I'm ready to go. I kept the ball down.

I didn't make very many good pitches in the second inning,

I'd lie if I don't say that it crosses my mind, ... But those are the things that I might think about for about 30 seconds, and then get rid of them. Because all that is, is stuff in your head that you don't need to think about.

I love competing against a guy like him, ... I know him pretty well and I know the type of person he is, and he is going to give everything he's got. It was a well-played game, and it was fun to have Roger out there.

I hate losing, never mind losing that way, not being able to make an adjustment and get the ball down in the strike zone. It's just an angry, disgusting, embarrassing feeling.

I had pretty good sink on my fastball, my cutter was good, my breaking ball was good.

I felt like I kept the ball down in the strike zone, and that's why I was getting those ground balls,

I felt good. I definitely felt better than my last two starts mechanically. My sinker was better. My cutter was better. My command was better. What allowed me to finish the game was taking the ninth like it was the first. If you rush through the ninth trying to get outs, you're not going to complete that game.

I feel like I have the ability to go out there and control myself and control each pitch way more than I've ever done before,

I can only control what I can control and that's go out and try to make pitches and keep my team in the game and give them a chance to win. So that's all I'm going to do.

If it wasn't for (Mackowiak), it would have been an all-right game.

I always had that mentality but I've gotten to a point where I understand how to use it. It's all about controlling it in your head.

He fits in good. Sidney has a lot of fun. He brings that aspect to the other four of us in the rotation. He makes us enjoy being together a little bit more. We're the more serious types. He's definitely a different guy when he comes to the park and it's his day to pitch. He's serious, and you know he's ready for his day. But in between starts he keeps us laughing. It's fun to have him around. Everybody in here is pulling for him. When you're around him, you can see he's a nice guy, and he's here to compete and win.

I actually enjoy pitching here. It's a nice place. I like the park. The mound is good. If you start concerning yourself with that short wall in left, the next thing you know, you go away from your game. They still have got to hit it out there.

He's phenomenal, ... He doesn't give any at-bats away, no matter what the score or what the situation. He's obviously an awesome hitter -- the best hitter I've ever seen. The numbers that he puts up, the way he takes every at-bat, the consistency that he has every day, is better than anyone I've ever seen.

I thought early on I got away with a couple pitches, but we made some nice defensive plays.

I was cruising along and I felt like I was throwing the ball well, and got there in the seventh and all of a sudden I started getting some balls up and it got away from me. No matter who you face, you're going to give up hits if you don't execute pitches down in the zone.

I think that I wasn't going to throw many pitches today,

I went back out to go and they weren't going to take a chance with an 8-0 lead,

I was just lobbing it to the point Mel was catching it with his bare hands. I was just lobbing it to feel it come off my hand and feel the spin it was supposed to have.

I think the toughest thing this year is going to be to continue to do what I did last year, and that's being mentally strong every fifth day and to be able to be consistent. Am I going to win as many games? I don't know. But I believe the mental part of the game, if I continue to do the things I did last year, the success I had was because of that.

It is an honor. It's an honor to be a part of this group. This season was an incredible season. Personally it was good, but team-wise we didn't get to where we wanted to get. I'm looking forward to 2006 and hopefully having the opportunity to do it again.

I saw his dedication and his work and what he took to the mound, and I didn't know how to apply it. This year I've been able to apply a lot of the things I saw.

I sat there watching him pitch those two years in Toronto (in 1997 and '98) and it was amazing,

I sat here and told my wife I didn't want to do it anymore, ... I didn't think I could go through the (shoulder) surgery.

My stuff was better than it had been in my last two (starts). It was just a strange game. I made a few mistakes but there were a lot of infield hits, a lot of broken-bat hits. It was just one of those nights.

My roommate went out after the storm and he did a little looting himself for water and food for the dog. That's the last I heard of him. I still haven't found him yet. That worries me because he would call me.

My performance (today) was unacceptable and made me want to puke.

I was in command of it all night,

It feels fine. I was a little stiff.

It feels nice to get zeros and get a win. You go out there to execute pitches and give your team a chance to win and I was able to do it all day.

I think people misunderstood, ... I had cramps all over my body. It wasn't just about my hand. I had it in my hamstring, my shoulder, both hands, my calves, so I'm not concerned about that. I think it was just a day that was hot.

I think everybody is ready to go and we're excited about this series.

I think guys are ready to go. I think guys are ready to start the games that count, competing for real. We take the field here and we want to win, but making it worth something. I think guys are ready to go.

I sure do have my work cut out for me. Hopefully my tools are still dry. Once the city gets power, it's on.

I thought I kept the ball down in the strike zone,

I thought I was pulling off the ball. I was trying to make the adjustment. I would, and then I'd throw a few pitches to a hitter, and then go right back to it again. So it was just one of those days. For some reason I wasn't able to make the consistent adjustment to keep me where I needed to be, and I battled.

I thought I was able to match pitches when I had to.

I'm sitting watching, thinking that they've got the best closer in the game on the mound and we have the best hitter in the game at the plate. It was an unbelievable feeling.

That's the way it works. You go out and try to do the best you can to give your team a chance to win. Unfortunately, we didn't win tonight. But tomorrow, we can come back and do a better job.

We have three games left. It's going to be a big weekend closing the stadium. But I think guys are eager and ready to get going, and I'm one of them.

We won't know what everything is like until we play in it. If the ball is going to carry, if it's not. No matter what the stadium is, you deal with it. It's going to be there for a long time.

We clinched and there was nothing on the line anymore,

We have five guys who have been here before. At this point in the season, if you don't have a guy on the mound who believes that he can be that No. 1 guy, you're not going to have a whole lot of success. We have five guys who can go out there and win at any time.

When you do that it's tough for them to elevate the ball.

We've got to forget about tonight. We didn't win it tonight, we just won one game.

We've got a great club, ... We've got to continue to play the way we've been playing in this series to continue to move on.

You hope that you win. But when you're talking about the quality of seasons those other guys had, there's nothing you can say about it (if someone else won).

We had that last year, we have that this year.

There's not a lot of people that come from this area or this state that play in the big leagues, never mind win the Cy Young, ... To be part of that is unbelievable and to be part of this situation is unbelievable. I can't believe I won.

I've been in this situation, blowing a 2-0 lead.

They are a lot like our club. They take quality at-bats. They are patient and they have an idea about what they are doing and the pitcher they are facing. They've got speed. They've got some guys who can hit the ball out of the park. They have got quality guys from top to bottom, and you've definitely got to be on your game and make quality pitches to get these guys out.

The sheer number of claims and inquiries can be overwhelming -- tremendous energy is required just to get your arms around the problem.

Again, we had three double plays that stopped some rallies and I made pitches when I had to.

A few years ago, I never thought I was going to play again, ... I go from coming back and winning Comeback Player (of the Year in 2004) to winning the Cy Young. It's a crazy feeling.

A few years ago, I never thought I was going to play again, ... And I go from coming back and winning the comeback player to winning the Cy Young the year after that. It's a crazy feeling.

An unbelievable feeling. As soon as he hit it, you knew it was gone.

That's why I was getting all those ground balls. It's tough to elevate.

That's how it works sometimes. You just try to go out and do the best you can and hope it's enough to win.

That one game I think I got us two runs because I did the little things right. And I know if you do that, you have a chance to score some runs and it might get you a win. I've worked hard at it, and I feel like I've gotten better at it.

They have been doing it all year, ... They have been doing it against San Diego and they did it again tonight. You can't say enough about the two guys up the middle turning two. They do it all the time.

They have been doing it all year. They did in the series against San Diego, and they did it again tonight.

There were a few guys in here that went crazy just like they did out there. It was a great ending.

There'll be debris washed up and there probably was some debris taken off the property. The vines are pretty resilient and they're all shut down, so they can be completely submerged and they'll all come back.

There was a lot of pressure put on us,

It's exciting, no question about it, to be able to go out and be on this stage and compete with the best players there is and have a chance for the ultimate goal, and that's to win the World Series. You know, it's been fun and exciting.

It's a simple pitch to throw if you grasp the concept,

I try not to let it enter my mind because, again, we've got a long way to go, ... We've got a month left. I've got to go out and continue to compete for the rest of the month, and our main goal is to give ourselves a chance to be in the playoffs.

It was frustrating last year not to be a part of it, but you know, I'm excited about it and looking forward to tomorrow night and competing against a quality club. These guys have been playing well and they have got a good team and we've got to go and play our best baseball.

It was a strange night. I put good swings on two balls and hit them hard. It was nice, but it would have been nice to win.

It's a great feeling, ... There's not a lot of people that come from this area, never mind play in the big leagues.

I told my wife I didn't want to do it anymore, ... I wanted to come home.

It's all in your mind, ... It has nothing to do with how much rest you have. Concentrating on what you're doing, that's what makes you successful.

It only happened twice. But they weren't going to take a chance.

It's unacceptable no matter where we are in the season. It was very out of character for me, it made me want to puke.

It's tough to see the guys that aren't going to be back go. But that's the business of the game and I'm sure when we get to spring training we'll be ready to go.

Every ball was up in the strike zone. No matter who you're facing, you're going to give up hits when you do that.

That's a big turn in that game. Give Roger a 1-0 lead in the first. To him, it probably feels like he's got nine,

Each start is a new start, a new game, ... I can't take anything from the last game into this next one except to continue to try to throw strikes down in the strike zone. I feel like my stuff is pretty good and I feel like I was able to control counts and I'm going to try to do that again.

Everybody is going to be pumped up a little bit, ... I think that you've got to go out and relax and execute pitches the way I've done all year, and I'll be OK.

Everybody was excited for me. Like I said, 20's a big number, ... But I've got five (starts) left. I think about the rest of the season, and get prepared for New York on Thursday.

The addition of Andy is big for them. They've always had a great bullpen. They have a team that knows how to play the game, they take quality at-bats and play the game the right way. It's fun competing against a team like that, knowing that they're a lot like us. They go out and do the little things to win. They're going to pitch, bunt, play defense and do everything it takes to win.

It's a new game. That's the way I looked at it all year,

It's huge. We need Jimmy in the lineup every day to come out there and compete every day and be a big part of that offense, never mind his defensive play. It was nice to see him back in there and doing what he did today. Hopefully we can get him on track and he can start feeling better.

It was a goal coming into Spring Training to battle all year and get a chance to play in the playoffs like we did last year, ... My only goal was to stay healthy and try to be consistent all year, and have a chance to be here with this team, and it's worked out.

It was just a strange game. I think I made a few mistakes. It was just one of those nights.

That's all right, come back and get the next guy.

Their guy did a pretty good job tonight, obviously.

I made a good, quality pitch down and away and he hit it into the seats. I was confident in the pitch, I was confident in the location and the result wasn't what I wanted.

I made a bad pitch. I threw a sloppy cutter up there and he hit it.

I made some bad pitches and even the good ones got hit. No matter what you say about it, it's unacceptable.