Cardinals Legend Officially Retires After Successful 18-Year Career

St. Louis will miss their homegrown star

Scott Neville | Oct 26, 2023

Cardinals Legend Officially Retires After Successful 18-Year Career /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have lost some serious star power over the last couple of seasons.

One year after St. Louis lost both catcher Yadier Molina and designated hitter Albert Pujols, one of the best pitchers in franchise history has hung up the cleats.

Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright officially retired on Wednesday according to the Major League Baseball transaction log. His 40-man roster spot was taken by former Oakland Athletics infielder Buddy Kennedy, who will provide depth for the time being.

Wainwright's final season did not go as planned. He went 5-11 with a 7.40 ERA, 55-to-41 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .345 batting average against and 1.90 WHIP in 101 innings across 21 starts. The team also unexpectedly finished in last place for the first time since 1990.

The one silver lining was his final start on Sept. 18, when the 42-year-old turned back the clock to toss seven shutout innings with four hits allowed, two walks and three strikeouts against the Milwaukee Brewers. Most importantly, that effort secured his 200th win.

Wainwright finished his career with a 200-128 record, a 3.53 ERA, 2,202 strikeouts, a .254 batting average against and a 1.24 WHIP in 2,668 1/3 innings across 478 games.

The soon-to-be Cardinals Hall of Famer also took pride in his .192 batting average (143-for-744) with 51 extra-base hits including 10 home runs and a .510 OPS across his 18-year career.

Wainwright was a three-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger and of course, a World Series Champion for his efforts as a reliever in 2006.

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Published Oct 26, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu