5 Things On My Mind: Enjoy retirement, Matt Carpenter

The Hall of Fame finally opens for Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe.

Politics play a big part in so many things in life, and it’s not just Washington D.C. and the presidency. The way movies are made, sports voting are conducted, and even the way food is presented all comes down to the politics of it all. If you ask me, we could use a lot less overthinking and more trust in this world. With that in mind, let’s run down a quick list of things on my mind.

#5-Welcome to doing nothing for a living, Matt Carpenter. While that may not be exactly true by next year, the former Cardinal won’t be playing professional baseball. After spending one last year with St. Louis last year, he didn’t find much success in 2025 and decided to wrap it up. Cards fans will never give this guy enough credit, so let me supply some stats to back up my support. In 5,773 career plate appearances, he compiled a rock solid .814 OPS. With St. Louis, he posted a .366 on base percentage and .446 slugging percentage.

He broke Clayton Kershaw… twice. Carpenter posted four seasons of 20 home runs or more and three seasons of 40 doubles or more with St. Louis. That’s not bad work for a 13th round draft pick out of Texas Christian University. The odds were against Carp from the jump, and he succeeded them by a moderate distance. Remember him as a well above average Cardinal and human being. Salsa owes him a debt of gratitude. Kudos for the batting glove-less work at the plate, too.