The Cardinals had been out of the pennant race for months, but on September 18, 2023, they came to the ballpark with history on the line. As franchise icon Adam Wainwright pursued his 200th career win, everyone – fans, players, and even Wainwright himself – had a little extra adrenaline flowing as they arrived at Busch Stadium.
“I had an idea coming to the park today that I was … going to lay it all out here, because I really wanted it to happen here,” Wainwright said. “The crowd was unbelievable tonight. I felt them cheering on every pitch I made, every big strikeout, we had a couple of double plays, and the crowd was just going crazy. They were on their feet all night and I felt that.”[1]
Cardinals fans certainly had every reason to go crazy, as Wainwright gave his best performance of the season, shutting out the Brewers across seven innings before handing the game off to the bullpen for a 1-0 victory and the 200th win of his career.
“That’s as good as we’ve seen,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “If you talked to him right before the game, and if he’s being really honest, he was being held up by duct tape before the game started, and for him to go out there and do what he did is highly impressive.”[2]
The Cardinals acquired their future ace in a December 2003 trade that sent J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero to the Braves for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Wainwright.
Wainwright’s march to 200 wins began in 2005, when the 23-year-old made a pair of relief appearances. The Cardinals used Wainwright as a reliever again in 2006, where he picked up the first two wins of his career, then earned his place in Cardinals history when he struck out Carlos Beltran to close out the NLCS.
Wainwright proved up to the task in his first season as a starter, winning 14 games with a 3.70 ERA, and in 2009 he led all of baseball with 19 wins while finishing third in the National League Cy Young Award voting and winning his first Gold Glove Award.
Despite missing the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, Wainwright continued to rack up victories, winning 20 in 2010, 14 in 2012, 19 in 2013, and 20 again in 2014. Injuries that kept him out most of the 2015 and 2018 seasons postponed his march to 200, as did the shortened COVID season in 2020, but after winning 17 games in 2021 and 11 in 2022, Wainwright entered what he had announced would be his final season just five wins shy of the milestone.
What followed was the Cardinals’ worst season during Wainwright’s 19 years with the club and the most challenging on-field campaign of the righthander’s career. A weight room injury suffered at the World Baseball Classic postponed Wainwright’s first start of the season until May. On May 18, Wainwright earned his first win of the season against the Dodgers despite allowing five runs over 5 2/3 innings. Five days later, he earned win No. 2 against the Reds, once again allowing five runs over 5 2/3 innings.
After two no-decisions in early June, Wainwright earned win No. 3 against the Mets on June 17. Despite a 5.56 ERA, Wainwright held a 3-1 record and seemed well on his way to 200 wins.
It would be almost three months before he earned his next win.
Wainwright lost his next three starts, including a 3 1/3-inning performance in which he allowed seven runs. After that start, Wainwright was sent to the disabled list. When he returned, however, his losing streak continued. On August 11, after he allowed eight runs in a one-inning start against the Royals, his ERA was up to 8.78. Ahead of his September 12 start against the playoff-bound Orioles, Wainwright was just 3-11 on the season and had lost his last 10 decisions.
With the season drawing to a close, however, Wainwright found reason for optimism, holding the Orioles to two runs over five innings in a 5-2 win that placed him on the cusp of history. At most, Wainwright only had three starts remaining to reach the milestone.
As it turned out, he only needed one.
Wainwright gained momentum early in the game. After allowing a one-out walk to William Contreras in the first inning, he got Carlos Santana to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play. He retired the side in order in the second, ending the inning with the 2,200th strikeout of his career when he caught Rowdy Tellez looking.
Wainwright danced out of danger in the third. With runners on first and second and two outs, he got Contreras to ground out to Paul Goldschmidt at first base, ending the inning and maintaining the scoreless tie.
In the bottom fourth, it was Contreras’s older brother, Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras, who finally put a run on the board against Freddy Peralta, who had cruised through the first three innings. In his first season in St. Louis as the successor to Yadier Molina, Willson Contreras had battled adversity of his own, including a period in May in which the Cardinals briefly removed him from the catcher position. Despite the ups and downs, Contreras was finishing the season strong, and since September 1 he had hit .389 with four homers and 12 RBIs.
With a solo home run that was 114.7 mph off the bat,[3] Contreras reached 20 home runs for the third consecutive season.
“I know (Wainwright) has been battling a lot of stuff and he’s been pitching the best that he can this year,” Contreras said. “I’m glad that he was able to reach the 200 mark on wins. And I’m glad that I was back behind the plate for him.”[4]
From there, it was up to Wainwright and the Cardinals’ bullpen to make Contreras’s home run stand up. Wainwright retired the side in order in the fifth, then got Santana to ground into another inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Brewers outfielder Mark Canha opened the seventh with a single to center field, prompting a mound visit from Marmol. After a brief conversation, Marmol stuck with Wainwright, who retired Willy Adames, Tellez, and Josh Donaldson in order.
They proved to be the final outs of Wainwright’s career. As he walked off the mound for the final time, Cardinals fans gave him a standing ovation.
“I didn’t want to tip my hat or anything because I didn’t know if I was done,” Wainwright said, “but I did feel that crowd and it was a special walk off.”[5]
Lefthander John King took the mound in the eighth. Like Wainwright before him, he benefited from a ground-ball double play, but when Sal Frelick singled, Marmol turned to Helsley to record the final four outs of the game.
“They came to me in the bullpen down there and they were like, ‘Hey, could you give us one plus if we need you?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do whatever I can. I’ll give you whatever I’ve got to help Waino get to 200,’” Helsley said. “I was just happy to go out there and execute and help him get it.”[6]
Helsley struck out William Contreras to end the eighth, then retired the side in order in the ninth for his 12th and most important save of the season.
“For sure, you know what’s at stake,” Helsley said. “You’re thinking about it all day. It was a close game. You’re thinking you’re going to be in there. I was definitely on edge most of the game and praying to the Good Lord above that he’d help me nail it down for him.”[7]
Though none of Wainwright’s 93 pitches exceeded 88 mph,[8] he held the Brewers to just four hits and two walks over seven innings.
“For at least a night, I was a real pitcher out there,” Wainwright said. “The guy I want to be. Seven innings, shutout, a couple of hits. Got through a couple of tough at-bats out there and made adjustments, worked in and out, up and down. For tonight, I was me.”[9]
With three strikeouts in the game, Wainwright moved past David Wells for 65th all-time among big-league pitchers. Only Bob Gibson’s 3,117 strikeouts ranked higher in Cardinals history.
“He just kept guys off balance,” Marmol said. “He didn’t have what he had last time as far as the (velocity) being there, but there weren’t a whole lot of comfortable swings or hard-hit balls for the most part. He went through that lineup and was in control the whole time. It was just fun to watch him out there competing.”[10]
For his part, Wainwright admitted that this one meant a bit extra, and compared it to that 2006 strikeout of Beltran in the NLCS.
“Tonight, for me, this is tied for first,” he said.[11]
“Having to work as hard as I had to work for it made me savor it that much more. There was a time where I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to keep going, or if they were going to let me keep going. … That’s one of the most fun games I’ve ever pitched in my whole life.”[12]
With 200 career wins, Wainwright joined rarefied air. Only Gibson (251) and Jesse Haines (210) had more wins while wearing the birds on the bat, and only five other active players had reached the milestone. The next closest active player was Johnny Cueto with 144.
“I think in today’s game it means a lot,” said Wainwright’s former teammate Chris Carpenter. “It goes well with all different adjectives for what it means. It means one has longevity, shows he’s been a winner, shows he’s been good, shows he’s been healthy, shows he’s been consistent. All of the above. It’s a neat number. Does it represent all of his career? No. It is a neat number.”[13]
No. 200 proved to be the final game of Wainwright’s career. Admitting that he had battled pain all season long, the Cardinals announced a few days later that he would be limited to pinch-hitting opportunities in his final days.
“When you think of the St. Louis Cardinals, you think of Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright for the last 20 years,” Helsley said. “Him pushing for his 200th win is obviously a huge ordeal, and he’s just been a great role model for all of us in here, pitchers and position players alike.”[14]
In The Athletic, beat writer Katie Woo wrote about the legacy Wainwright was leaving behind after almost two decades in St. Louis.
“Wainwright’s impending retirement brings with it the end of a generation,” she wrote. “He is the last household name of the mid-200os era, which introduced franchise staples like Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Chris Carpenter. He is a fan favorite, and his career will undoubtedly end with a red jacket, enshrined in the organization’s hall of fame. He pitched most of the season hurt, wear and tear chipping away at his ability. But he never quit until he delivered for himself and for the city, one more time.”[15]
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[1] Katie Woo, “In otherwise lost season, Adam Wainwright’s 200th win was what St. Louis needed,” The Athletic, September 19, 2023, https://theathletic.com/4878798/2023/09/19/cardinals-adam-wainwright-fans-200/.
[2] “Cards’ Adam Wainwright wins 200th game with gem vs. Brewers,” ESPN.com, September 18, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38435862/cards-adam-wainwright-wins-200th-game-gem-vs-brewers.
[3] Derrick Goold, “200 for Wainwright!” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 19, 2023.
[4] “Cards’ Adam Wainwright wins 200th game with gem vs. Brewers,” ESPN.com, September 18, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38435862/cards-adam-wainwright-wins-200th-game-gem-vs-brewers.
[5] “Cards’ Adam Wainwright wins 200th game with gem vs. Brewers,” ESPN.com, September 18, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38435862/cards-adam-wainwright-wins-200th-game-gem-vs-brewers.
[6] Lynn Worthy, “Wainwright might not make another start for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 20, 2023.
[7] Lynn Worthy, “Wainwright might not make another start for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 20, 2023.
[8] Katie Woo, “In otherwise lost season, Adam Wainwright’s 200th win was what St. Louis needed,” The Athletic, September 19, 2023, https://theathletic.com/4878798/2023/09/19/cardinals-adam-wainwright-fans-200/.
[9] Katie Woo, “In otherwise lost season, Adam Wainwright’s 200th win was what St. Louis needed,” The Athletic, September 19, 2023, https://theathletic.com/4878798/2023/09/19/cardinals-adam-wainwright-fans-200/.
[10] “Cards’ Adam Wainwright wins 200th game with gem vs. Brewers,” ESPN.com, September 18, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38435862/cards-adam-wainwright-wins-200th-game-gem-vs-brewers.
[11] “Cards’ Adam Wainwright wins 200th game with gem vs. Brewers,” ESPN.com, September 18, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38435862/cards-adam-wainwright-wins-200th-game-gem-vs-brewers.
[12] Katie Woo, “In otherwise lost season, Adam Wainwright’s 200th win was what St. Louis needed,” The Athletic, September 19, 2023, https://theathletic.com/4878798/2023/09/19/cardinals-adam-wainwright-fans-200/.
[13] Derrick Goold, “200 for Wainwright!” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 19, 2023.
[14] Jeff Jones, “Wainwright joins Gibson, Haines in Cardinals’ 200-win club,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 20, 2023.
[15] Katie Woo, “In otherwise lost season, Adam Wainwright’s 200th win was what St. Louis needed,” The Athletic, September 19, 2023, https://theathletic.com/4878798/2023/09/19/cardinals-adam-wainwright-fans-200/.