Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter laced up the skates for a Blues practice (Blues.NHL.com)
Six days after pitching the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11th World Series title, Chris Carpenter was on the ice with the St. Louis Blues for the team’s practice Thursday morning at St. Louis Mills. “It’s awesome,” said Carpenter. “For these guys to even give up some of their time to allow me to come in here, I know what it’s like … I just wanted to get out of everybody’s way, just watch really, and then they invited me to come out here and skate a little bit. It was a lot of fun. I was just hoping not to embarrass myself. But they were all great.”
Carpenter was an all-state high school hockey player in New Hampshire and had scouts from the Blackhawks and Boston Bruins following him, but he ultimately decided on playing baseball. It is ironic that he was drafted to play baseball by a city that loves its hockey…Toronto.
Friday night the Blues host the Vancouver Canucks on St. Louis Cardinals night. Retired manager Tony La Russa will drop the ceremonial first puck before the game with Carpenter on hand to watch. He is a Blues’ season ticket holder.