Jenifer Langosch confirms fans biggest concerns; Chris Carpenter is almost guaranteed to be on the disabled list starting out this new season. Kyle Lohse is said to be the new starter for April 4th, followed by Adam Wainwright on the 13th, and Lance Lynn could possibly become his permanent 5th rotation replacement. In her article, "Carpenter shut down; Lohse to start opener," she uses most of the page to discuss Carpenter's bizarre injury. It could be a disk out of place, or it could be nerve damage which he has suffered from in the past. His practices have consisted of weakness and discomfort as his pitching skills are, at the moment, failing to be what they once were.
One question that arose for me when reading this article, was why is the whole article focused on an injured player who is unable to benefit the team, and not the players who will now be starting, and what the season may look like with a new starting pitcher. Yes, it is devastating that his career could be effected or ended by this, and as humans we are curious what has happened and how he will be, but if Baseball is the subject, shouldn't the game be the most important thing to discuss?
Wrong. Just as Barthes discusses in his book Mythologies, we have made the players symbols of importance, of greatness. They are our heroes and when they are injured, it shows us that even the "great" can be brought down and hurt and it has a much larger effect on our personal lives, than if we just saw them as baseball players. Baseball is no longer just aboutthe game, but having something to depend on to give us hope, to gossip about, and the players become people we can idolize. Just like in moneyball, the player is a price, the player is role model, the player is an object, as opposed to just a human. The article doesn't focus on the upcoming starters and a very exciting season for them, because one of our heroes has lost his immortality and that has become what is important and what the fans will care about, as opposed to the game.
The reason that Carpenter and his injury are so heavily focused on in the article is because he had a lot to do with the Cardinals World Series win last season. They don't want him to be injured because in a way it clouds that great victory for St. Louis fans. They can't comprehend him not playing, not continuing his/their greatness from last season, and it is because, as you said, he has been idealized.
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