Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright details characteristics of an “ace,” Chris Carpenter’s lasting impact

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright joined The Writers’ Block to discuss several team topics, including what characteristics make up a team’s starting pitching “ace.” Read some excerpts and listen to the full interview below: What’s your definition of an ace? “An ace to me…Chris Carpenter was a perfect example of that. And I like to think I had some years where I performed like one. Bob Gibson is another example. An ace to me is a guy that when…you as a fan or a teammate or manager, you know that guy is going to give you a great chance to win the game. He’s going to show up prepared, ready to pitcher and most of the time your team is going to win the game. And it’s a situation where…like when Clayton Kershaw won the MVP (and people complained that a pitcher won it). Traditionally… (I would agree with that)…but when you look at what a No. 1 does…they affect three of the five games in my mind at the minimum. They obviously affect the game they pitch…but the manager can bank on them going deep into the game. They can use their bullpen more loosely the day before….and know the guy the next day has it covered. The day after…the bullpen should be rested. So that one pitcher can affect the whole pitching staff.” On Chris Carpenter’s long-lasting influence on the Cardinals: “On many different levels, that edge that Carp had affected the entire clubhouse. You knew that there were certain rules that would be enforced. If you’re sitting at your locker with your cell phone out and want to make a quick call…but there’s a no cell phone policy, you might try to get away with something like that…but as soon as you see (Carpenter) walk in the room, you throw your phone (and act like you weren’t doing anything wrong). He had that enforcer type mentality that the game and the unspoken rules about how to be a professional, that was really important to him. If you went about your business the right away, you’re working hard in the weight room and the film room and working hard constantly…then Carpenter was your biggest ally. But if you weren’t…and you were lazy and doing things not the right away…then he was going to come down on you pretty hard. That was great for me because I needed a kick in the pants when I got traded to the Cardinals. He was the perfect person to help steer me that way. But once you got in his good graces…he really had a great time. His main focus was winning a game, was showing up to be a professional. If you did that, he’d be your biggest ally.”