Musial, Stan. Lou Brock. Bob Gibson. These St. Louis Cardinals, along with several others, are among the greatest players in baseball’s illustrious past and have earned their place in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Cardinals supporters might now dismiss Cooperstown as outdated and outdated. Matt Carpenter, a former infielder for the Cardinals, has gained access to a far more elite group, so it’s worth celebrating.
Fans have voted Carpenter into the “Hall of Pretty Good.”
To vote for or against Carpenter’s admission into the Hall of Pretty Good, over 45,000 baseball fans rushed to Instagram over the course of the last week. With 93% of the vote, Carpenter easily won the election and became the club’s 22nd member.
Along with other “inner circle” teammates like Jay Bruce, Hideki Matsui, Shane Victorino, Darren O’Day, and A.J. Pierzynski, Carpenter is the first player to be inducted into the Hall of Pretty Good who played with the Cardinals for the duration of his career. The “inner circle” may be defined as people who earn at least 90% approval for induction, while the exact qualifications remain unclear.
A player must be officially retired, have a maximum bWAR of 38.6, or miss at least three seasons of MLB play in order to be eligible for the Hall of Pretty Good. In addition, he is not eligible to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and has not received any Cy Young or MVP honors.
Carpenter was the sparkplug for the 2013 pennant champions and was the Cardinals’ primary leadoff hitter for the most of his time with the team, which he played for from 2011 to 2021 and his final season in 2024. In addition to being his greatest season, he led the big leagues with 199 hits, 126 runs scored, and 55 doubles, earning him a Silver Slugger award. That season, he finished fourth in the MVP voting and hit.318 to rank sixth in the National League. Playing as the Cardinals’ regular first baseman, second baseman, and third baseman in various seasons added to Carpenter’s worth as a three-time All-Star.
Carpenter might not be accepted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he will probably be given a red jacket and inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in the near future. However, the venerable Hall of Pretty Good should sate any Cardinals fan’s desire to witness Carpenter earn more instant recognition.
