58 Facts About Adam Wainwright

1.

Adam Parrish Wainwright was born on August 30,1981, and nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball.

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2.

Adam Wainwright missed the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, but emerged as an ace, leading the National League multiple times in wins, innings pitched, and games started.

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3.

Adam Wainwright has multiple top-ten finishes in earned run average, strikeouts, walks plus hits per inning pitched, and complete games.

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4.

In 2014, Adam Wainwright became the first pitcher in Major League history to post nine of his first 18 starts with seven innings pitched and no runs allowed.

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5.

Adam Wainwright was born in Brunswick, Georgia, to Bill, an attorney, and Nancy Adam Wainwright, a real estate agent.

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6.

Adam Wainwright's parents divorced when he was seven years old and his father moved to Florida, leaving only Wainwright's mother to raise him and his older brother Trey, now an attorney in Atlanta.

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7.

Adam Wainwright participated in the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and numerous church activities, and grew up an Atlanta Braves fan.

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8.

Adam Wainwright attended high school at Glynn Academy in his native Brunswick, where he was an athletic and academic standout.

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9.

Adam Wainwright played football, in which he was named to the All-State team as a wide receiver his junior and senior years as well as All-Region honors as a placekicker.

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10.

Adam Wainwright chose to forgo college to go straight to the pros, signing a contract that included a $1.

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11.

Less than two weeks after high school graduation, Adam Wainwright reported to the Braves rookie team and soon advanced to Atlanta's Class A Danville Braves in the Appalachian League.

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12.

Adam Wainwright pitched for the Macon Braves in the South Atlantic League in 2001, where he broke the team record for strikeouts, previously held by Bruce Chen, with 184.

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13.

Adam Wainwright spent the 2002 season in the Carolina League and participated in that season's All-Star Futures Game.

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14.

Adam Wainwright pitched just 12 games for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds when he was shut down for nearly all the rest of the season with an elbow strain.

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15.

Adam Wainwright struck out 64 batters and allowed 68 hits and 28 walks.

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16.

Adam Wainwright spent the next season with Memphis, starting 29 games, completing 182 IP, allowing 204 hits, 51 BB, and striking out 147.

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17.

Adam Wainwright made the Cardinals' Opening Day roster as a relief pitcher after having been a starter for his entire minor league career.

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18.

In Game 5 of the 2006 World Series, Adam Wainwright struck out Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge to win the championship.

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19.

Adam Wainwright moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation for 2007.

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20.

Adam Wainwright finished his first year by leading the club in almost every pitching category—games started, innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins—while compiling a 3.

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21.

In March 2008, Adam Wainwright signed a four-year deal with the Cardinals worth $21 million, with two club options for 2012 and 2013 that made the potential aggregate value $36 million.

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22.

Adam Wainwright gave up four runs or less in each of his first seven starts.

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23.

Adam Wainwright struck out a major-league high 140 batters on third-strike curveballs.

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24.

Adam Wainwright was a top contender for the Cy Young Award along with teammate Chris Carpenter and eventual winner Tim Lincecum.

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25.

Adam Wainwright became only the second pitcher ever—Trevor Hoffman was the first—to get the most first-place votes and not win the award.

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26.

Adam Wainwright faced five batters, throwing 17 pitches for ten strikes and seven balls, and allowed no runs with just one hit—a double off the glove of fellow Cardinal All-Star Matt Holliday—one walk, and two strikeouts.

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27.

Adam Wainwright pitched the first two shutouts of his career in 2010—one against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 4 and a two-hitter against the Florida Marlins on August 6.

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28.

Adam Wainwright was the runner-up for the 2010 NL Cy Young Award, finishing second in voting behind unanimous winner Halladay.

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29.

Adam Wainwright's contract featured options for 2012 and 2013 totaling $21 million with a provision that they would not automatically vest if he ended the 2011 season on the disabled list.

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30.

Adam Wainwright attributed the improvement to be able to sustain the usual finishing movement on his pitches through late innings, which earlier in the season, had eluded him, thus making his pitches easier to hit.

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31.

Adam Wainwright corrected a subtle flaw that had developed on the grip of his curveball during a bullpen session prior to the start against San Diego.

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32.

Two days later, Adam Wainwright, who was second in the league with 18 entering the game, defeated the Chicago Cubs in his final start of the season to tie Zimmerman for the lead in wins at 19.

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33.

Adam Wainwright became just the third pitcher in franchise history to twice lead the league in wins, joining Dizzy Dean and Mort Cooper.

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34.

Adam Wainwright led the NL in games started, innings pitched, hits allowed, and batters faced, and was third in strikeouts.

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35.

Adam Wainwright struck out 10 in seven innings, becoming the first Cardinal to reach double digits in strikeouts in a World Series game since Gibson against the Detroit Tigers in 1968.

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36.

Adam Wainwright gave up the first hit in the second inning on a high infield chopper, but none after until two outs into the ninth.

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37.

Adam Wainwright retired the first 11 batters before giving up a double to Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth inning.

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38.

Adam Wainwright walked none and struck out nine, throwing 115 pitches, 86 for strikes.

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39.

Adam Wainwright was selected as the NL's starting pitcher for the first time in his career.

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40.

In that game, Adam Wainwright posted his Major League-leading 15th start of the season with at least seven innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed.

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41.

Adam Wainwright finished third in the Cy Young voting for 2014, his third such placing, and fourth time he was positioned in the top three.

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42.

Cardinals selected Adam Wainwright to make his fourth career Opening Day start, and the season-opening game for MLB in 2015, in what was the first-ever MLB Opening Night game.

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43.

Cardinals announced before spring training that Adam Wainwright would be the Opening Day starter in 2016, his fifth time.

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44.

Adam Wainwright pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout and 5-0 win against Miami on July 15,2016; the first hit he allowed was a double to Adeiny Hechavarria in the sixth inning.

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45.

Adam Wainwright reported pain in his right elbow for the second consecutive season and displayed a precipitous decline in velocity in his most recent starts.

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46.

Treatments on the right elbow that Adam Wainwright received during the season included trimming cartilage and an injection of platelet-rich plasma into the joint.

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47.

In 2017, Adam Wainwright won his first career Silver Slugger Award, the first Cardinal pitcher to win the award since Bob Forsch and Jason Marquis.

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48.

Adam Wainwright led all pitchers with seven runs scored and 11 RBI, and, among all with at least 40 plate appearances, in slugging percentage and OPS.

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49.

Adam Wainwright began the 2018 season on the 10-day disabled list with a left hamstring sprain.

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50.

Adam Wainwright signed a one-year, $2 million contract extension with the Cardinals prior to the 2019 offseason.

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51.

On January 28,2021, Adam Wainwright signed a one-year, $8 million contract to stay with the Cardinals.

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52.

Adam Wainwright became the second pitcher in franchise history alongside Bob Gibson to reach the milestone.

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53.

Adam Wainwright finished seventh in the 2021 NL Cy Young Award voting.

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54.

Adam Wainwright uses all of his pitches against left-handed hitters, but he does not use the changeup against right-handers.

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55.

Fantasy football enthusiast, Adam Wainwright created and hosts a fantasy football network in eight cities called Big League Impact, designed to raise money for various charities.

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56.

Adam Wainwright was the recipient of the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award due to his work with Big League Impact alongside his contributions in helping build Haiti's Ferrier Village Secondary School.

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57.

Adam Wainwright married his high school sweetheart, Jenny Curry, in 2004.

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58.

Adam Wainwright has openly expressed his Christian faith, and is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

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