By AP/KWMU
New York – Cardinals' pitcher Chris Carpenter was named the National League Cy Young Award winner on Thursday. The only other Cardinal to ever win a Cy Young was Bob Gibson, who won it twice.
The reward caps a comeback from shoulder surgery that jeopardized the right-hander's career only a few years ago.
Carpenter received 19 of 32 first-place votes and finished with 132 points in balloting by baseball writers. He beat out Florida southpaw Dontrelle Willis.
Carpenter had surgery in September 2002 to repair a tear in his pitching shoulder and missed the entire 2003 season.
This year, though, Carpenter went 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA.
NL Cy Young Award Voting | ||||
Player (team) | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
Chris Carpenter (StL) | 19 | 12 | 1 | 132 |
Dontrelle Willis (Fla) | 11 | 18 | 3 | 112 |
Roger Clemens (Hou) | 2 | 2 | 24 | 40 |
Roy Oswalt (Hou) | - | - | 2 | 2 |