St. Louis Cardinals: A love note to Adam Wainwright

The one-time ace of the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation is on his way back to St. Louis with right elbow pain. Is this the end?

The St. Louis Cardinals will need to make a decision on Adam Wainwright and likely in the coming days. Waino’s last start- on Sunday in San Diego- did not go as he would have liked. In fact, the start did not go as anyone who favors the Cardinals wanted it to go.

Last season I wrote a piece in August when Wainwright went down with injury. I was attacked and lambasted at my insinuation and supposition that Waino could, in all actuality, be finished. Even Waino himself came at me on Twitter and called me out.

Side note: this was a glorious moment for me knowing that Waino at least read my tweet about the article, if not the article itself.

Back to the here and now. Wainwright is not himself. Period. End of story. Or rather, Wainwright is not the self he was in the height of his glory. This is attributed to many things: age, injuries, lack of healing, and perhaps a rush from the St. Louis Cardinals to get their veteran back. If the last of these is true (and it certainly feels that way), then shame on the Cardinals for rushing him to the mound after only one rehab start.

So here we are with Adam Wainwright likely headed (again) to the disabled list. This is a terrifyingly common refrain with Waino over the last few seasons. I hate knowing this and refuse to remember Wainwright in this way.

If this is ultimately his way out- which I doubt he will do without scratching and clawing- then I’d prefer to remember him via the following love letter.

Dear Adam Wainwright,

You were an amazing pitcher. Hell, you ARE an amazing pitcher. No one stays young forever and arms break down but, like Chris Carpenter before you, I will remember all of your successes. I will remember the final strikeout of the World Series. I will remember the killer curve. I will remember the home runs you belted from the plate.

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I will also remember the person you were and the kindness that exuded from your heart. I will remember you providing a rental car for Luke Weaver in his early spring training days. I will remember you traveling outside of the United States to help less fortunate people around the world.

Even more than all of these things, I will remember you sitting in the dugout with young pitchers and coaching them in how to master the art of pitching. I will remember you laughing and making the dugout seem like a wonderful place to be.

Once, when I attended the Battle of the Birds, I witnessed how the other guys were huddled around you in the clubhouse enjoying a tale you were telling. This is the teammate for the St. Louis Cardinals that I will remember. Please pass these traits on to another if you must depart the dugout.

But all the fuzzy aside, let’s get serious for one minute: the time to exit graciously could be upon us. I do not wish to see you degenerate further this season and lose the masterclass that is Adam Wainwright. I do not wish to watch you force yourself to be a starter only to last three innings and then get replaced. I do NOT want to watch you get shelled by younger guys.

As you said on Sunday, there are a great deal of potent, young arms looking to rise. These could take your place- true- but they will not ever live up to your shoes.

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What do you think? Is Wainwright done? Should he be?

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