Chris Carpenter Quotes (66 Quotes)

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

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.

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

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.

I'll never forget the night we sat here until about 3 o'clock in the morning crying and talking about my career, ... I was ready to be done. And she didn't think I was, that I would regret it if I didn't take that one more step and try to come back again. And the next thing you know, I got my second surgery and here we are today. And I know that if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here.

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.

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 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.

I'm sitting in the dugout thinking that we've got the best closer in the game on the mound, but we also have the best hitter in the game at the plate. I was sitting there thinking he's going to tryto throw him sliders, and he got a good one to hit. It was an unbelievable feeling. As soon as he hit it, you knew it was gone.

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.

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.

The consistency I've had, I think, is the most important thing. When I'm pitching, I feel our team is going to have an opportunity to win the game. I like that the best of everything I've accomplished this year.

It was July of 2003 when Carpenter wondered about his future. I threw a Double-A game in Knoxville, Tenn., right before the all-star break and I couldn't play catch, ... I just wanted to go home, my arm hurt really bad, I knew there was something wrong.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

I had pretty good sink on my fastball, my cutter was good, my breaking ball was good. I threw some real good change-ups today. I got through that first (inning) and made pretty good pitches all day.

I had no idea. They were asking for the ball and I didn't know why. I didn't know until I came into the dugout.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

I can't believe I won. Two years ago, I didn't know if I was ever going to pitch again.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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

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

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.

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 was locked in mentally for a very long period of time, ... Next thing you know, your teammates are behind you saying, Wow Look at this guy go.'

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.

I take it a start at a time, ... That's all I do. I'm going to continue to do that the rest of the year. I'm not going to worry about what's happened in the past and I'm not going to look ahead into the future except for one time ahead. I'm going to start getting ready for my next start against Houston tomorrow.

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,

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.

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.

I don't think there will be a problem with people moving back, but I think it will attract a different group of people. I lived there for 12 years. I know how the city works.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.