St. Louis Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter was named the National League’s Cy Young Award winner for 2005. Carpenter received 19 of the 32 first place votes to capture the award. Florida Marlins lefthander Dontrelle Willis finished second in the balloting while seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens finished a distant third.
For Carpenter, the award culminates his return from a severe shoulder injury that required surgery and nearly ended his career just a few years ago. Carpenter had the operation in September 2002 while pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays. He refused to report to the minors and was declared a free agent, which allowed him to sign with St. Louis. Carpenter missed the entire 2003 season while rehabilitating the shoulder. A second surgery was needed to remove scar tissue in July 2003.
In 2004, Carpenter finally returned to the lineup and finished with a respectable 15-5 record with a 3.46 ERA. This season, the Cards ace was fully healthy and finished the season with a 21-5 record and an ERA of 2.83. He won 13 straight decisions between June 14 and September 8 and struck out 213 batters in 241 2/3 innings.
Carpenter also became the first Cardinals hurler to win the Cy Young since Hall of Famer Bob Gibson captured in it 1970.
Willis finished with a 22-10 record and a 2.63 ERA. He received 11 first place votes and 18 votes for second place. Clemens had baseball’s best ERA with a 1.87 but a lack of run support from his Astros teammates kept his record at only 13-8.
Carpenter received a $50,000 bonus for winning the award while Clemens pocketed an additional $25,000 for finishing in third place.
