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When Matt Carpenter's mom knew her son would be in the big leagues

Tammie Carpenter knew from a young age that her son would make it big someday

ST. LOUIS — 5 On Your Side’s Frank Cusumano caught up with Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter and his mom.

Who would have known that Matt would have turned into a three-time major league All-Star? His mom, Tammie, knew early on.

“He was always a baseball kid,” Tammie said.

Matt’s dad was a hall-of-fame high school baseball coach. Tammie would always take Matt to watch him coach.

She knew he wanted to play when he was 18 months to 2 years old.

“He would make little comments and watch the players when they hit. I mean he was intense! And I was like – this is not normal,” Tammie recalled.

And she was right. There was nothing normal about Matt’s 2018 season – 36 home runs – 28 of those in just three months – and a streak of home runs in six consecutive games.

Tammie has been on the edge of her seat watching for years. She said she really started to get nervous when he was in the 12-year-old all-stars. That’s when she knew he was really taking baseball seriously.

“I still get nervous when he’s out there,” Tammie said.

Matt joked and said his mom pays more attention to the grandchildren now than she does to the game.

“She doesn’t even watch me hit anymore!” Matt laughed. 

“That’s not true!” Tammie replied.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Frank Cusumano asked Matt what his mom means to him.

“You know what – she means everything to me. Your mom is the first woman in your life that you really love, and you learn what love is all about. I love my mom and I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for me,” Matt said.

Matt said his mom has been his biggest 'encourager.'

"There's probably no woman in the world that's been more to baseball games than my mom," Matt said. "From start to finish from my dad and his career, followed by my own career."

FULL INTERVIEW

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