Perseverance paid off for Carpenter

The Prep Rally: Best in the West series will highlight the all-time best players in western Arkansas as selected by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Arkansas assistant baseball coach Doug Clark once told Charles "Bubba" Carpenter he would never hit at the Division I level.

Challenge accepted.

Carpenter would go on to be a four-year letter-winner and three-time All-Southwest Conference selection for the Razorbacks and go on to play a short time in the Major Leagues.

Carpenter, a multi-sport standout at West Fork, credited Clark's words as motivation early in his college career.

"Oh hell, yeah," Carpenter said. "He told me I had an incurable hitch in my swing. That's the best thing that ever happened to me.

"I was a little bit stubborn back then. It was good for me. Coming from a small school where I'd had a lot of success. It fueled that fire in me, and I was dead set on proving him wrong."

That's exactly what he did.

His name remains in the Razorback record books today, tied for fourth all-time with 121 walks and 13 triples. The left-handed hitting Carpenter finished with a .332 career batting average in his college baseball career.

Longtime Arkansas coach Norm DeBriyn said that's where his work ethic and mental toughness came out.

"That challenged him to overcome any criticism," DeBriyn said. "His make-up was so good. He worked his butt off. He's just one of those dirt bags who would do whatever it took to beat you.

"He didn't play right away, it took a period of time. A lot of times, you lose guys in the process. Bubba was one of those guys who continued to work and get stronger. His last two years, he was as good as anybody and the guy ends up in the big leagues."

He came to college as a two-way player. DeBriyn thought initially he might be more of a pitcher in college than a hitter. But that changed with time.

"The more reps at the plate he took in fall ball, the more we liked him as a hitter," DeBriyn said. "After a year or so, pitching went by the wayside."

That didn't bother Carpenter at all.

"I threw hard but I really didn't know what I was doing," Carpenter said. "When they came to watch me in high school, I had a really good game on the mound. I think our pitching coach Dave Jorn liked me. But I think Coach D liked me more as a hitter."

But finally he went to DeBriyn to discuss giving up pitching to concentrate more on hitting.

"In practice, I was with the pitchers doing their PFPs and fielding bunts and that stuff and the hitters were down in the cage," Carpenter said. "I never liked that. I finally went to coach and just said 'Unless you just need me to pitch, I want to focus on first base and outfield.'

And just like that, his pitching days were over.

Carpenter says it started on an old baseball field in Winslow with his father, Bill. And it never got too complicated, Carpenter said.

"He didn't really understand mechanics or things like that," Carpenter said. "He just taught me to go out, play hard and play tough. When it comes down to it, that was probably better advice than any mechanics.

"Dad said 'you can outwork that other guy and be tougher than him.' He meant tougher mentally. Dad instilled that in me and it helped me throughout. I was told straight to my face I could never hit D-1 pitching. When I see coach Clark, we still give each other a hard time about it."

Those core values hammered into him at a young age helped him persevere for nine long years in the minor leagues, mostly in the New York Yankees organization. But he got his shot in the Majors with the Colorado Rockies in May 2000. Calling his father to tell him was something Carpenter will never forget.

"It was the neatest thing to call him and tell him 'Hey, Dad, I'm going to the big leagues,'" Carpenter said. "It was the best day of my life. That's the only time I could hear my dad breaking up a little bit. I could hear some tears in his voice. There were some on both ends of the line."

Carpenter's playing days may be over now, but he's still working in baseball. He has spent time as a color analyst on Arkansas baseball radio broadcasts in recent years. The 51-year-old also coaches his son's Cade (17) and Dalton (8) in the summer and runs Prospect Training Academy in Springdale, which has teams from age 7-17.

"I know what baseball meant to me and my family and I just want to try and pass that along to other kids," Carpenter said. "I hope to instill some of those things my father instilled in me. He always said 'Hustle never goes out of style' and that's something we continue to preach."