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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise to honor a St. Louis great who, although he has thrown his last pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals, has left a lasting impression on Cardinal Nation.

In 2003, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Adam Wainwright, Ray King, and Jason Marquis in exchange for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero. Little did we know the impact that trade would have on the Cardinals--the crown jewel of the National League, of course--for years to come.

Wainwright--or Waino, as we call him--just recently notched his 200th win, a huge milestone, which, by the way, in the game today may never be reached again. Starters just generally don't pitch that many games and don't get as many wins. So it is a big milestone. And he is retired from baseball now. He did that in front of thousands of fans at Bush Stadium.

But his career was more than just 200 wins; it was 18-plus years of just nasty curveballs and heart-stopping wins, years of camaraderie and postseason excellence, and countless memories for all of us Cardinals fans.

In his first full season in the majors with the Cardinals, Waino pitched in 61 games and boasted an impressive 3.12 ERA. It was in that first full season that he showed the ice in his veins that he became known for, as he became closer at the end of the season due to an injury to Jason Isringhausen.

In the bottom of the ninth in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, Wainwright stood on the mound, bases loaded, with the mighty Carlos Beltran at the plate. Historically, Beltran had kind of owned the Cardinals, even back to his Astros days. You have two strikes on Beltran, and Wainwright kicked back and delivered a knockout curveball that Beltran watched all the way into Yadier Molina's glove. Strike three. The game was over. The series was over. In that moment, the Cardinals headed to the World Series, and St. Louis knew they had a star.

On a personal note, I know exactly where I was when that pitch was delivered. I was at a bar in Kirkwood, near my home. I was at the very last seat of that bar. For every clinching away game for the next 15 years, I and a couple of friends went back to that same place. It had some magic for a while. It ran out, as these things often do.

But it was a great moment and a great way to start his career with the Cardinals.

He would go on to secure the final out in the 2006 World Series with a strikeout by way of his signature 12-to-6 curveball--otherwise known as Uncle Charlie--becoming the only player to close out the World Series in the 21st century as a rookie and delivering a World Series championship that the Cardinals hadn't had since 1982.

Bolstered by his batterymate and self-professed ``brother,'' the legendary Yadier Molina, who retired last year, Wainwright delivered countless gems and showed up at the most crucial moments.

Wainwright tossed seven innings and won his first MLB start against the Astros in April of 2007. While he was injured during the Cardinals' storybook run in 2011, he was a monumental presence in the clubhouse, as he was for over 18 years. He hit a home run on the first pitch of his first at bat in the majors. He pitched a complete game in the winner-take-all game 5 of the 2013 NLDS, fanning six and catapulting the Cardinals into another deep October run.

During the 2022 season that saw the return of Albert Pujols to St. Louis and the end of the Yadier Molina era, Wainwright and Molina set an alltime record for the most starts as a battery at 325. I am pretty sure that record will never be broken either.

Two of the most beloved St. Louis Cardinals, starting there as mere teammates, had an incredible run together, and they are best friends and St. Louis legends.

Although this season has been a difficult one for the Cardinals and not everything we had hoped for, we at least got to see Adam Wainwright reach one more milestone--200 wins--in his farewell season.

A three-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion, a two-time Gold Glover, and a Silver Slugger, Wainwright's success on the mound is well-documented. But aside from all of those accomplishments on the field, he also shined as an ambassador for the city of St. Louis and the sport of baseball.

The 2020 Roberto Clemente Award winner, which is given to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, and community involvement, Wainwright had an unrivaled passion for our community in St. Louis and helping others. He founded a nonprofit in 2013, Big League Impact, which has since raised over $8 million for a host of charitable organizations and foundations. He served as the unrelentingly optimistic beating heart of Cardinals teams that have seen stunning victories and heartbreaking losses.

Despite growing up in Georgia, Wainwright truly embodies what it means to be a St. Louis Cardinal and has served brilliantly as an ambassador for the beloved franchise--a franchise that is steeped in rich history, and some of the greatest players of all time have proudly worn the birds on the bat. It is a franchise that has won more World Series than any other, save the Yankees. I have been blessed, along with family members--my dad and my kids--to watch a lot of those greats over the years. Wainwright is undoubtedly one of those greats, not only for his prowess on the field but for his philanthropy and dedication to St. Louis off the field.

Today, I think I speak for all of Cardinal Nation when I say: Thank you, Waino. It has been a pleasure watching you all these years. Congrats on a fantastic career, and good luck in your next chapter.

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