The St. Louis Cardinals have been blessed to have two of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball throughout the past seven years. Unfortunately, they rarely got to see that blessing in full effect.

The Cardinals announced Tuesday that Chris Carpenter won’t pitch in 2013, which likely ends his career as a player for the Cardinals. It also ends a very successful era that still could have been exponentially better without injuries to Carpenter and his co-ace Adam Wainwright.

The Cardinals won two World Series titles and made the playoffs in four of the seven seasons Carpenter and Wainwright were both on the roster. That is arguably the most success any franchise has had during that time.

The San Francisco Giants won just as many championships, but they only made the playoffs those two seasons. The New York Yankees made the playoffs in six of those seven seasons, but they won just one World Series.

Still, the Cardinals had all of that success while rarely having Carpenter and Wainwright healthy at the same time. The only years both pitchers were able to be on the mound regularly during the same season were 2006 (although Wainwright was in the bullpen as a rookie), 2009 and 2010. One of the two pitchers was on the disabled list for an extended period of time in those other four seasons.

Most of the injuries happened to Carpenter. He led the Cardinals onto the field on Opening Day 2007 against the New York Mets and gave up five runs in six innings as the Cardinals lost 6-1. They would go on to finish 78-84, good for third place in the NL Central.

Wainwright moved into the starting rotation in 2007 and compiled a 25-15 record over the course of the next two seasons. But Carpenter didn’t return until 2009, which also happened to be the next time the Cardinals returned to the playoffs.

Carpenter and Wainwright combined for a 72-32 record in 2009 and 2010, the first time since 2006 the two pitchers were both healthy at the same time. The Cardinals won 91 games in 2009 and 86 in 2010, but then injuries destroyed the dynamic duo once again.

Wainwright blew out his elbow in the opening days of spring training in 2011 and missed the entire year after having Tommy John surgery. Carpenter picked up the slack that season with an 11-9 record that betrays his 3.45 earned-run average and his leadership that led the Cardinals to the World Series. He won the playoff-clinching game on the final day of the season in Houston, Game Five of the division series in Philadelphia and Game Seven of the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

Coming off the championship season, the Cardinals hopes were high that they could repeat because Wainwright would be back, and the team would have its two best pitchers healthy again.

Then Carpenter started to feel discomfort in his next during spring training workouts. He wouldn’t make his first start of the season until Sept. 21.

The Cardinals still did well last year and came within one win of reaching the World Series again, but Carpenter struggled against the Giants in the National League Championship Series. He didn’t make it beyond the fourth inning in either of his starts, and his arm wasn’t fully healed.

So while the Cardinals’ announcement that Carpenter wouldn’t be able to pitch this season wasn’t terribly shocking, it still closes the book on one of the most successful eras in franchise history.

But despite that success, the franchise and its fans will close that book wondering how great those teams could’ve been if their two best pitchers hadn’t so often fallen victim to injuries.

The Kansas City Royals have certainly had some historically terrible acquisitions over the years

Anyone who has been a fan of the Royals for any extended period of time has seen it multiple times. The off-season acquisition of a player another team was dying to get rid of (usually a malcontent), being sold to the Royals fanbase as a game-changing pickup. Every team acquires players that don’t pan out. But no team seems to pick guys up that they pencil in as top/middle of the rotation starters, middle of the lineup bats, or closers that end up embarrassing themselves and the rest of us like the Kansas City Royals. Here, we take a look at the worst of the worst, position by position.

Use the buttons below to scroll through the worst acquisition at each position for the Royals.

Catcher: Benito Santiago (2004)

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Santiago came to town with about as much excitement for playing in Kansas City as Juan Gonzalez did at the same time. He made it 49 games before coming down with his own phantom injury, and was then shipped off to Pittsburgh after the 2004 season.

Runner Up: Jason Kendall (2010)

A cannon of an arm from right field, electric power from the right side of the plate, and a veteran leader in the clubhouse, Kansas City Royals right fielder, Jeff Franceour, is without a doubt a huge component for the Royals in 2012.  Coming off of a couple of less than average years, the Royals took a chance on Franceour last season.  A chance that seemed to pay off for both him and his ball club.  Not only did the Royals get a sound outfielder but also a consistent bat that has the ability to get hot and drive in a lot of runs in a short period of time. Franceour also showed the Royals enough for them to sign him to a contract extension to become the present and future part of a very strong outfield.

Over his career Franceour has shown that he has all of the tools to be a very good hitter.  Though his statistics throughout his career have been up and down he is one of those players that will not get cheated on pitches.  He swings for interstate 70 and shows pitchers that he is not afraid to take a good rip at a pitch that they are just willing to put in the zone.  On the other hand, this kind of mentality has hurt hi, at the plate because of his over 100 strikeouts per season on average throughout his career.  So, at the plate with Franceour what you see is what you get.  A lot of pop at times and a lot of misses at times.  But it is the times that he does connect that he needs to bring up to be a key player for the Royals offensively this season.

Not much has to be said about how he plays out in right field.  he is as solid as they come when it comes to being able to get to balls, reading the plays and knowing where to throw the ball, and then throwing that ball on a line to whomever the receiver is.  In his seven seasons in Major League baseball Franceour has averages just under 14 outfield assists per season.  This is a stat that throughout his career may be his most consistent stat.  The guy just has a knack for cutting down runners on the bases. He did flash a little bit with the leather last season but it was his arm that had and has everyone excited for future years for him in Kansas City.

The biggest part that Francouer will play for the Royals in both 2012 and future years is his experience.  Though he is still considered young by many accounts he has been through it all.  He was a highly sought after draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2002, where he and Dayton Moore, Kansas City Royals General Manager, first began their relationship. Then he became one of the top prospects in the game along with then Royals third basemen Alex Gordon. Both of whom have gone through the struggles of being a young and upcoming ballplayer but seem to be turning it around just in time for a big push the Royals seem to be making.  After Atlanta, he signed the huge deal with the New York Mets and fell of the face of the Earth a little bit.  His most important experience, which will be essential to the Royals success now and in the future, is when he was traded to the Texas Ranger and was able to get experience in not only postseason play but also in the World Series.  These experiences all add up to being the clubhouse leader for this ball club.  He will be able to help with the highly touted prospects in the Royals system of which he used to be.  And also when the Royals are able to take that next step into October and November he will be able to calm guys down and show them how to be a a postseason player.

So all this being said, at the plate he may not be the best guy at his position but his consistency is key for both him and the Royals this season.  He needs to continue with his hose of an arm out in right field which he has not lacked his entire career.  But he needs to be the guy in the clubhouse.  He needs to be the guy to step up when the team in hot and also when they are losing.  He has solidified right field at Kauffman Stadium as “The French Quarter” but what else will he conquer as the Royals make their run towards championship seasons in the future.

Do you ever get the feeling that Kansas City teams are snakebit?

photo by Minda Haas

About six months ago, I was looking forward to the Chiefs making another playoff run. But after injuries claimed Matt Cassell, Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, Tony Moeaki, and Jonathan Baldwin (and probably others I’ve forgotten) the Chiefs were reduced to rubble. It was painful to let go of those high expectations and suffer through another losing season.

Sound familiar?

Hopes couldn’t have been much higher for the moribund Royals entering spring. But in the course of just days the hottest catching prospect in the league and our once-rock-solid reliever have gone down for an unknown period of time. The season appears to be crumbling before our eyes.

Kansas City fans like myself will need therapy if we don’t catch a break soon.

But rather than turn away in disgust, it might be best if we assess the damage and try to move on.

Win-Win: Following the Salvador Perez signing, there were actually rumblings that the Royals were taking advantage of the 21-year-old, convincing him to sign on for much less than his true value. Now we see how the signing was truly a win-win for Perez and the team. The Royals locked up an elite prospect, and Perez got some insurance for the unforeseen.

The unforeseen came into sight much sooner than expected. Experts forecast Perez will be out of action until the end of June. At that time, he’ll need to rehab in the minors. A slow start at that time could relegate Perez to the minors for most, if not all, of 2012.

So now the Royals scramble for a stopgap. Acquiring a capable replacement could cost the Royals players or prospects. The impact of the loss of Perez will be difficult to quantify, but the rapport he was building with Royals pitchers will be stunted at a critical time.

Window Closing for Closer: While Perez’ star was on the rise, Soria’s sun may be setting. His rocky 2011 had people questioning how much he had left in the tank. Now he’s sidelined with a mysterious elbow injury. This setback may permanently push Soria out of the closer role.

While the injury could be devastating to Soria’s career, it might not be so traumatic to the team’s chances this year, or in the future. It seems the Royals prepared for just such a situation.

With Jonathan Broxton, Greg Holland and Aaron Crow all ready to take on significant roles in the pen, Soria might be adequately replaced.

Knock on Wood: By not pitching for the next couple of weeks, Blake Wood would appear to have secured a spot in Triple A for at least the time being. It’s not time to give up on the 26-year-old. After all, manager Ned Yost said he was throwing 97 miles-per-hour before the injury. But with so much talent in the bullpen, Wood will have to light things up in Omaha to earn a spot.

Hope Springs Eternal: The Chiefs canned Todd Haley. They just signed Peyton Hillis, Eric Winston, Kevin Boss, and Stanford Routt. The draft hasn’t even come yet, and they look drastically improved.

Add in Baldwin for a full training camp, and bring back Cassel, Moeaki, Charles, Berry, etc., and the Chiefs look promising once again.

Let’s hope the Royals can rally after these spring training setbacks. Our teams aren’t snakebit. It only seems that way sometimes.

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2012, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty seven men on the ballot this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2012 menu at the top of the page.

Tune in Saturday, January 7, 2012 as I-70 Baseball Radio will host a panel of writers discussing the Hall Of Fame Ballot in a 2-hour special.

In this article, we take a look at Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire
Big Mac was the single season home run king for a period of time during his sixteen year career. The power hitting first baseman made his big league debut in 1986 with the Oakland A’s and eventually retired after the 2001 season that he spent with the St. Louis Cardinals. This will be McGwire’s fifth run on the Cooperstown ballot.

Why He Should Get In
From his Rookie Of The Year campaign in 1987 to his record setting 1998 season, McGwire simply hit and hit hard. His 49 home runs in 1987 set a rookie record. He led the league in home runs four times, made 12 All Star appearances, finished in the top 10 of the Most Valuable Player Award voting five times, won a Gold Glove and three silver slugger awards. His career numbers in home runs (583), runs batted in (1414), walks (1317) and slugging percentage (.588) suggest a shoe-in for Cooperstown.

Why He Should Not Get In
Only one thing keeps McGwire out of Cooperstown: his decision to do steroids. No one can tell when it began or how much it influenced his numbers. It will consistently tarnish his career and keep him from entering Cooperstown until the voters can come to terms with who can and cannot get in from one of the most controversial eras of baseball.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

It was 2004 when the Cardinals handed the reigns of their pitching staff over to a young, talented, and defensively sound Yadier Molina. The younger brother of Major League catchers Bengie and Jose, Yadier arrived in St. Louis being regarded as a player who was defensively ready, however, fans were warned that he would be learning to be a hitter at the Major League level.

Very early in Molina’s career, the Cardinals’ up-and-coming superstar, Albert Pujols, seemed to have taken the backstop under his wing. It was not long before the St. Louis organization had a behind the scenes “bro-mance” on their hands.

A baseball bro-mance should yield some results for the fans, writers, and followers of the ball club. Two players being connected on the same team for such a long period of time begs the question of their combined production. Not just the production of their combined season statistics but also a look into just how they feed off each other in individual games.

The interesting standpoint here is that we are dealing with two very different players. This is not Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle. This is a player that is regarded as the best in Major League Baseball defensively at his position. It is another player that is regarded as possibly the best hitter baseball has ever seen.

That defensive player has seen himself evolve into a player that is becoming respected for his bat. That reason alone led this writer into researching just how many times the members of this relationship had achieved the pinnacle of power, the home run, in the same game.

Molina was brought to the big league club in 2004, but it was not until his third career home run on May 18, 2005 that he and Albert Pujols would go deep in the same game. It would happen in the top of the third inning as Pujols, with Larry Walker on first base, would put the Cardinals ahead 2-0 on a two ball, two strike delivery from Jon Lieber of the Philadelphia Phillies. The home run was the 170th of Albert’s still young career. Later in that same inning, Molina would drive the first pitch he seen out of the park with Mark Grudzielanek and Abraham Nunez on second and third, putting the Cardinals ahead 5-0. It is the only time to date that the duo has gone deep in the same inning. The team would go on to win the game 8-4 and our bro-mance begins to take hold.

The tandem would not wait long for a repeat performance and would not waste the curtain call on a road crowd this time. Back in the confines of Busch Stadium, it would be Molina who would put his name in the box score first with a solo shot off the Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mark Redman in the bottom of the third inning of a scoreless game on June 25, 2005. The Cardinals would be ahead 5-0 when Pujols would step to the plate against reliever Ryan Vogelsong. Chris Carpenter and David Eckstein would score from second and third on Albert’s dinger, his 180th of his career, and the final runs of the Cardinals 8-0 win that day.

Two years and a combined 114 home runs would pass before the two hitters would find themselves going yard in the same game again. During a game in St. Louis that the Cardinals would go on to win 6-4 on August 22, 2007, Albert’s two run homer in the bottom of the first inning off Florida Marlins’ starter Scott Olsen would plate So Taguchi and mark the 280th career long ball of his career. It was the 20th home run of Yadier Molina’s career, a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth off of Olsen, that would put the duo’s name in the box score side by side for the third time.

May 3, 2008 would mark the first time the pair would go deep in the same game with no one on base as the Cardinals would drop a game to the rival Chicago Cubs 9-3. Molina would touch the Chicago Cubs’ Ted Lilly for a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth while Albert would follow suit in the bottom of the sixth.

Albert would once again reach the thirty home run plateau on September 1, 2008 as he would take one of the best left handed hurlers of the time, Randy Johnson, out of the ballpark in Arizona in the top of the third inning with Ryan Ludwick on second base. While Johnson could seem untouchable at times, it was Molina that actually reached him first with a solo shot in the top of the second that day, his sixth of the year and 28th of his career. Johnson would get the last laugh as the Diamondbacks would hold on to win 8-6.

The Pittsburgh Pirates starter Ian Snell would take the mound in St. Louis and yield a two-run home run to Albert Pujols in the bottom of the third, scoring Colby Rasmus. The game was already out of hand with the Cardinals leading 8-1 by the time Yadier Molina would take relief pitcher Donald Veal deep for a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth, but the teammates had left the ballpark in the same game for the sixth time and the team would hold on to win 9-3.

Not quite a month later, the subjects of our discussion would again enjoy some home cooking and find themselves producing a pair of solo shots on Cinqo De Mayo 10-7 loss against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was Molina taking Brett Meyers out of the park in the bottom of the fourth and Albert greeting his old friend Brad Lidge in the bottom of the ninth to achieve the feat this time.

The eighth such game would occur once again in St. Louis, this time against the Colorado Rockies. The Cardinals would lose 11-4 but it would mark the third time in one season that the pair would go deep in the same game, more than any other year to date. Rockies starter Jorge de la Rosa would give up solo shots to the pair in the bottom of the sixth for Pujols and bottom of the seventh for Molina.

The only time the two would leave the yard in the same game in 2010 would also be the only game featuring multiple home runs from one of them. The Cardinals would visit the Cincinnatti Reds to open the season on April 5, 2010 and Aaron Harang would find himself in trouble early, giving up a solo home run to Albert in the top of the first. Albert was not done for the day and would hit a two run homer in the top of the seventh off Mike Lincoln, driving in Brendan Ryan from first. Yadi would get to put the nail in the coffin on this day as he would take Nick Masset out of the yard in grand fashion, emptying the full bases and driving in Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus and Felipe Lopez, giving the Cardinals an 11-6 opening day victory.

June 16, 2011 in the Nation’s capital would find the backstop and first baseman reaching the bleachers once again. It was the Nationals’ Tyler Clippard surrendering a solo shot to Albert in the eighth and his bullpen mate Drew Storen who could not contain Yadier Molina in the ninth from a solo shot of his own. The team did not fair as well, dropping the game 7-4.

The eleventh and most current game to feature the two men hitting home runs in the same game would occur on July 22, 2011 in Pittsburgh. Pirates starter Paul Maholm would serve up a two run bomb to Pujols, his 430th of his career, scoring Jon Jay from first. Chris Resop would be on the mound in the eight when Yadi would find a way to drive the ball over the fence for the 47th time in his career, giving the Cardinals a 6-4 victory over the suddenly competitive Pirates.

The duo will continue to grace the field in the same uniform for the remainder of 2011. Beyond that, the story has yet to be written, but time will tell if the career numbers might continue to coincide for years to come or fans may need to relish the few games they have left with two superstars in the same lineup.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.