⚾️ Kerry Carpenter: Faith and Persistence

You may have seen the massive home run that Detroit Tigers star Kerry Carpenter hit last night in Game Two of the ALDS, but you may not have heard his story. Here’s a small piece of what life was like for Carpenter before he was hitting home runs in the MLB Postseason.

This feels like a good time to get into one of the best stories in the MLB. Before Kerry Carpenter hit a go-ahead 3-run home run in the MLB Postseason, he was just a kid who was confused. Carpenter wasn’t all that into baseball during his early years of high school. It wasn’t until his mom and sister sat him down and shared their vision of his potential.

They saw it before he did, and in his Junior year of high school, he finally dug his feet in and went after his now-shared goal with his family: to get a scholarship. Carpenter hit his stride his senior year but wasn’t recruited. Most colleges had already completed their recruiting classes months earlier. So Carpenter went the JUCO route.

He grinded out a year at St. John’s River State College in Florida, where he played well enough to earn a scholarship at Virginia Tech. In 2019, he landed with the Tigers in the 19th round of the MLB draft. Carpenter was climbing up the MILB ladder before the COVID-19 Pandemic canceled the minor league season.

It was September of 2020 when Carpenter got a part-time job, so he put on a green polo at Dick’s Sporting Goods. From swinging bats to selling them, Carpenter’s baseball dream was in question. Not only was Carpenter battling for his baseball life, he was dealing with the passing of his father, who lost his battle with lung cancer in May of that same year.

At that time, Carpenter was practically a nobody in the Tigers organization. Two years later, Carpenter was leading the minors in homers. It was Carpenter’s faith, persistence, and belief in himself, that led him to the majors.

Since his first full season in the MLB in 2023, Carpenter has arguably been the best player in the Tigers organization. He has hit with power and for average. When his team needed him most last night, Carpenter answered the bell. If you knew his story before that at-bat, you could’ve called the home run from a mile away.

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