Watch: Cardinals' Adam Wainwright sings national anthem on Opening Day
Thursday may have been the final Opening Day of Adam Wainwright’s career, but it just may be the most memorable, too.
The 41-year-old pitcher, who announced that this year will be his final season, sang the national anthem prior to the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2023 season opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright, who’s spent his entire 18-year MLB career with the Cardinals, started the season on the 15-day injured list retroactive to March 27 after suffering a strained groin while working out with Team USA during the World Baseball Classic.
He was scheduled to start his seventh Opening Day for St. Louis prior to the injury but he will now miss “several weeks,” according to Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. Miles Mikolas got the start instead. The 34-year-old right hander had a 3.29 ERA and won 12 games for the Cardinals in 2022.
Wainwright had an 11-12 record last season while striking out 143 batters over 191.2 innings with a 3.71 ERA. The 6-foot-7 righty has 457 career wins and is just 15 victories shy of tying Jess Haines for second place on the Cardinals’ all-time wins list (210). He’s also 91.2 innings away from passing Bob Forsch for the third-most innings pitched in Cardinals history.
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