Fans bestow middling honor on former Cardinals great

Stan Musial. Lou Brock. Bob Gibson. Those and many other St. Louis Cardinals are among the best players in the storied history of baseball and have rightfully earned enshrinement in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. At this point, Cardinals fans could call Cooperstown old hat and passé. So it's worth celebrating the fact that former Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter just received entry into a much more exclusive group.

Fans have voted Carpenter into the "Hall of Pretty Good."

Nearly 45,000 baseball fans flocked to Instagram over the past week to vote for or against Carpenter's induction into the Hall of Pretty Good. Carpenter passed with flying colors, earning 93% of the vote and becoming only the 22nd member of the club.

Carpenter is the first member of the Hall of Pretty Good who spent the majority of his career with the Cardinals, and he joins other "inner circle" colleagues such as Jay Bruce, Hideki Matsui, Shane Victorino, Darren O'Day and A.J. Pierzynski. The criteria for "inner circle" are not clear, but it may be those who receive at least 90% approval for induction.

To be eligible for the Hall of Pretty Good, a player must have a maximum bWAR of 38.6 and be officially retired, or he must be absent from any MLB roster for at least three seasons. He also cannot be a baseball Hall of Fame member, nor can he have won any MVP or Cy Young awards.

A member of the Cardinals from 2011 to 2021, as well as for his final season in 2024, Carpenter served as the Cardinals' main leadoff hitter for much of his tenure and was the sparkplug for the 2013 pennant winners. That was also his best season, as he won a Silver Slugger while leading the major leagues with 199 hits and 126 runs scored, as well as 55 doubles. He hit .318 that season, good for sixth in the National League, and finished fourth in MVP voting. Carpenter was a three-time All-Star and further boosted his value by playing as the Cardinals' primary first baseman, second baseman and third baseman in different seasons.

The Baseball Hall of Fame may shun Carpenter, but it's likely that he will receive a red jacket and a spot in the Cardinals Hall of Fame in a few years. However, for those who wanted to see Carpenter receive more immediate appreciation, the hallowed Hall of Pretty Good should satisfy the appetite of any Cardinals fan.