Adam Wainwright

With three strikeouts, he also became the 66th pitcher in baseball history with at least 2,200 strikeouts.

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

His 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.

Wainwright credits Trey, seven years his senior, with teaching him everything he knows about sports after their father left, including building a pitcher's mound in their back yard to teach him how to pitch.

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

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

Adam Parrish Wainwright (born August 30, 1981), nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Atlanta Braves selected him 29th overall in the first round of the 2000 amateur draft from Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia.

His performance in the minor leagues made him one of the Braves' top pitching prospects.

With a fastball over 90 mph and batting average at times over .500, Wainwright was named Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year in 2000.

He also 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.

Various colleges and universities, including Georgia Tech, offered him academic and baseball scholarships.

The Atlanta Braves selected Wainwright 29th overall in the first round of the 2000 MLB draft, using a compensatory pick from the Arizona Diamondbacks for signing Russ Springer in the offseason.

Wainwright chose to forgo college to go straight to the pros, signing a contract that included a $1.25 million bonus.

The Braves had been his favorite team growing up.

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

He 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.

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

After the 2003 season, the Braves traded him to the Cardinals for outfielder J. D. Drew.

In 2003, Wainwright advanced to the Braves' Double-A club, Greenville.

He was Baseball America's top Braves prospect in 2003.

In December of that year, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Wainwright and pitchers Jason Marquis and Ray King in a trade that sent outfielder J. D. Drew and utility player Eli Marrero to the Braves.

Wainwright pitched just 12 games for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in 2004 before he was shut down for nearly the entire rest of the season with an elbow strain.

There, he had a 4–4 win–loss record (W–L) with a 5.37 earned run average (ERA) in 63 2⁄3 innings pitched (IP).

He struck out 64 batters and allowed 68 hits and 28 walks (BB).

In the Arizona Fall League, he returned to pitch 10 innings.

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

His win–loss record was 10–10.

Wainwright made his MLB debut on September 11, 2005, and spent the rest of the season as a relief pitcher.

After two somewhat uneven seasons in the Cardinals' minor league system, Wainwright made his MLB debut for St. Louis on September 11, 2005.

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

The next year, he briefly assumed closer duties, saving the series-clinching games of the 2006 National League Championship Series and the 2006 World Series over the Detroit Tigers.

In 2007, he returned to starting pitching, a role in which he has since remained.

He 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.

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

In 2014, 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.

In his career, Wainwright has won 200 games, received three All-Star selections and two Gold Glove Awards, and finished in the top three in the Cy Young Award balloting four times.

With 2,202 career strikeouts, Wainwright is second to Bob Gibson (3,117) in Cardinals franchise history.

Wainwright and longtime teammate Yadier Molina are the most successful battery in Major League history, having both the most wins and starts together.

On September 18, 2023, he became the third Cardinals' pitcher to win 200 games, joining Bob Gibson (251), and Jesse Haines (210), and the 122nd in baseball history.