You could make a case, actually, that Carpenter is the best Cardinals starting pitcher since Bob Gibson, who threw out one of the ceremonial first pitches before Game 1. Who would be the other candidates?
Since moving to Phoenix, the best-known Cardinal until recently was Pat Tillman, a safety who left before the 2002 season to join the Army as a Ranger.
Indeed, given the crises the church faces, delicacy might seem remiss.The procedure is usually to identify the main threats facing the church and then find the cardinal best able to deal with them.
A liberal education -- as best defined by Cardinal Newman in 1854 -- is a "broad exposure to the outlines of knowledge" for its own sake, rather than to acquire skills to practice a trade or do a job.
But in 2010, Harbaugh gave the Cardinal its best season in at least the last 70 years, and set the groundwork for a potentially magical season in 2011.
Running back Stepfan Taylor had his best game in a Cardinal uniform, carrying the ball 35 times for 177 yards, both career highs.
Time and again as he has defended his record as a priest in Ballarat and bishop in Melbourne, the cardinal's best answer to his accusers has been: my word can be trusted against yours.
"So I say things like 'Be careful the children don't get their hands stuck in the elevator doors' or 'I hope they don't slip on our marble mosaic floor and break their little noggins.' " His way is probably the best way, since the cardinal rule for suggesting behavior modification to children other than your own (and to your own as well) is by doing so in a pleasant and even playful way.
Archbishop Tartaglia, who said he would do his best to fulfil the cardinal's role until a new archbishop was appointed, thought the process offered a chance for the church to regroup.
Were the Cardinals the best team?
