Adam Wainwright Stands Alone With Two-Way History

The St. Louis Cardinals are not in a playoff race in September for the first time in a long while.

This year has been a disaster for the Cardinals, and they cannot wait for it to end.

But, the final month of the season has at least brought some good to St. Louis.

That is the retirement tour of legendary pitcher Adam Wainwright.

He just secured the 200th win of this career, and he has a retirement weekend coming up at the end of the season.

Wainwright was a unique player throughout his career.

When pitchers were forced to bat in the National League, Wainwright did a good job of it.

According to OptaSTATS, Wainwright is the only player in MLB history to debut since 1969 with 200+ wins and 10+ home runs.

Number of players to debut in MLB in the divisional era (since 1969): 10,331

Number of those to hit 10+ HR: 2,394

Number of those to win 200+ games: 36

Number of those to do both: 1 (Adam Wainwright, @Cardinals) pic.twitter.com/1F2xOVx2Mg

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 19, 2023

The NL adopting the designated hitter no longer allows any pitcher to bat.

So it is safe to say only Shohei Ohtani could catch Wainwright in this impressive feat.

But, Ohtani only has 38 career wins and still has a long way to go to join Waino in this group.

Even though Wainwright was never a two-way player, his ability to hit helped the Cardinals for many years.

Maybe the team will even let him get one more at-bat before the end of the season.

Wainwright is 42 years old and he is ready to move on from baseball.

He has given everything to the Cardinals for 18 years and his next step will be in the team’s Hall of Fame.

Even in this lost season, there are still plenty of things to celebrate when discussing the career of Wainwright.

NEXT: 
The Cardinals Officially Sealed A Disappointing 2023 Season