Bros before foes

They met at spring training, each a strapping, highly touted right-hander in the Toronto Blue Jays system.

Chris Carpenter was the 15th overall pick in 1993, Roy Halladay the 17th in 1995, and together they were to one day anchor the starting rotation.

A friendship started, connecting first over baseball, later over fishing, golf and family, a bond that has only grown stronger through the highs and lows en route to big-league stardom, beginning with their ascension to the Blue Jays and continuing elsewhere.

It’s that relationship that provides an intriguing subplot to the decisive Game 5 clash in the National League Division Series between Halladay’s heavily favoured Philadelphia Phillies and Carpenter’s St. Louis Cardinals.

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Two of the best pitchers in the game over the past decade, they’ll each push aside that friendship when they go against one another for the first time Friday.

"You know, we’ve talked about this scenario," said Halladay. "I think it’s something we’re both looking forward to. It's going to be a challenge. Going in, you know what you’re up against, you know how good Chris is.

"We have our work cut out for us, but yeah, I’m looking forward to it, and I know Chris is, also. It’s fun. We haven’t got a chance to pitch against each other, and if you’re going to do it for the first time, might as well be now."

The stakes will be very high for both.

For the NL East champion Phillies, who feature one of the best starting staffs in recent memory, anything short of a World Series title will be an immense failure, especially if they fail to escape the first round.

For the wildcard Cardinals, who chased down the Atlanta Braves to clinch a playoff berth on the final day of the season, this run may be their last with first baseman Albert Pujols, who is bound for free agency next month.

So there will be no shortage of grander scale drama to go with the backstory between the starters.

"It’s obviously a huge game, but you control your emotions, you can control distractions," said Carpenter. "I’ve been in big games before, I’ve pitched in World Series games, I’ve pitched in other playoff games.

"The less distractions you have and the more control of your thoughts makes it easier. You go out and you do the things that you can only control, and that’s execute pitches."

The disciplined approach on the mound is something the 36-year-old Carpenter shares with the 34-year-old Halladay, a mentality they developed back during their days with the Blue Jays.

Both were mentored by Pat Hentgen, the club’s ace at the time who took each under his wing.

Halladay described Hentgen as "probably the biggest influence on my career as a player coming from another player. … Obviously a true professional, taught us how to do things the right way, was always friendly to us, always taught us. … We both stuck to him pretty closely."

Carpenter agreed, and credited Hentgen with "truly showing me how to be professional, how to act on the day that you pitch, how serious you need to take that day, how important that day is for you."

But as crucial as Hentgen was in their development, having each other was similarly important.

Any player burdened by heavy expectations needs someone to lean on, and with Halladay and Carpenter both in the same boat with the Blue Jays, they were able to share many of their growing pains together.

"Even though I’m a little older than him, we went through a lot of the same issues at the same time, so there was a lot of just conversation on not understanding what’s going on and why we can’t get out of the fourth inning and why we can’t do this – there are all kinds of different things," said Carpenter. "And I think it was just being able to be a sound board to one another of being able to say, listen, I’m going through the same things you’re going through and being able to learn and get through those problems and those issues together.

"A lot of it was mental. We both knew that we had quality stuff. But mentally as young kids with high expectations on you, this game is hard, and if you can’t control that stuff in your mind and the game goes a thousand miles an hour, you’re going to have a hard time executing. Fortunately we were able to figure it out."

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Halladay echoed those sentiments, saying he was able to take lots from Carpenter because their situations were so similar.

"We were supposed to come in and lead this team and be these great pitchers right out of the gate, and I think it was tough for both of us not really knowing how to go about that," said Halladay. "But I really did feel like we kind of learned together, more mentally how to approach the game and how to play the game, and it was a lot of fun.

"I remember a couple times going to dinner and talking about how we were on a roll at the time, and we really felt like that we had kind of both turned the corner."

That they certainly have, though the vision of them helping push the Blue Jays back into the post-season never materialized. Carpenter left for the Cardinals after shoulder surgery in 2002, while Halladay requested a trade and was dealt to the Phillies after the 2009 season.

The friendship has endured, but it gets pushed aside for one night in Game 5.

"It’s been a pretty good friendship for a long time," said Carpenter. "We’ve pitched together, we’ve vacationed together, we communicate a bunch during the off-season and during the season. He just invited me to go fishing this winter, so I mean, we’ve got a real good relationship.

"It’s going to be a lot of fun."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.