St. Louis Cardinals clutch pitcher Chris Carpenter announced his retirement Wednesday.
"He'll go down as one of the greatest we've ever had," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak posted on the Cardinals' Twitter page.
Carpenter was a first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997, where he played until he moved to the Cardinals in 2002, reports CBS Sports.
According to ESPN, Carpenter was out for the entire 2013 season and most of the 2012 season with a nerve injury in his shoulder. Throughout the years, the pitcher struggled through multiple shoulder, elbow and nerve injuries, and also spent time on the disabled list for most of the 2002 season, all of 2003, most of 2007 and 2008. Despite so many missed seasons, Carpenter had an impressive career.
Carpenter went 144-94 with a 3.76 ERA in his time in the MLB. He won the 2005 National League Cy Young Award and the 2009 NL Comeback Player of the Year. He also made three All-Star teams and earned two World Series rings.
Carpenter will mostly take some time off to rest and recover, but there is talk of him returning as a coach or working for the Cardinals in some other aspect.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
