St. Louis Cardinals: Four reasons Adam Wainwright will be a Cy Young finalist

4. He made another bet with Matt Carpenter

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned bet to make things interesting.

Every Cardinals fan knows by now that Wainwright made a friendly wager last season with third basemen Matt Carpenter. The bet was simple — if Carpenter could hit 20 home runs, then Wainwright would buy him a golf cart decked out in TCU purple, Carpenter’s college alma mater. 

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Matt stepped up to the challenge blasting 28 homers for the Redbirds, and Wainwright kept good on his promise. The bet provided a little extra incentive and fun for the two teammates and friends.

Well, Wainwright revealed last week in that soundbite on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio that this season Carpenter has made a bet of his own with the Cardinals’ ace.

"“Carpenter came back to me and said ‘okay, you gave me the golf cart. I tell you what, I’ll get you a golf cart if you win 20 games. I said, ‘you’re on.’ I’ll take that bet,” Wainwright said."

Sure, winning 20 games won’t guarantee Wainwright the Cy Young Award, but it will certainly get his name in the conversation.

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Either way, expect big things from No. 50 this season. With Lance Lynn out for the year with Tommy John surgery and John Lackey moving to the Windy City, the Cardinals will need their ace if they want stay atop the NL Central for the fourth straight year.