Infamous Cardinals pitcher with remarkable comeback hangs up his spikes

Mike Mayers was never a star pitcher. In 80.2 innings with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2016 to 2019, he coughed up an unsightly 7.03 ERA. But for those who remember the inauspicious start to Mayers' career, his ultimate accomplishments make for a feel-good story.

Former Cardinals pitcher Mike Mayers announced on Instagram that he has retired from baseball at the age of 33.

There are some scenes in movies that are just difficult to watch. This article mentions scenes in films such as "Saving Private Ryan," "The Mist" and "The Green Mile" as ones that force some viewers to avert their gaze on the television screen. The baseball equivalent of this would likely involve being forced to watch your team's pitcher getting shelled for multiple runs early on. Cardinals fans saw this unfold in an especially cruel way on July 24, 2016, when Mayers took the hill at Busch Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers to make his major league debut.

The pressure was palpable: Not only was this Mayers' first foray into the big leagues, but the game was being broadcast nationally on ESPN for Sunday Night Baseball. Mayers proceeded to craft possibly the worst debut pitching performance in the history of baseball.

With his friends and family in the stands, Mayers allowed the first three batters to reach base, and Adrian Gonzalez promptly unloaded the bags with a grand slam. That was only the warmup, as Mayers would go on to allow five more earned runs. His final line: eight hits, nine earned runs, two walks and one strikeout in 1.1 innings of work.

Few would have blamed the Cardinals if they had never allowed Mayers to pitch in the major leagues again, and his career ERA with the birds on the bat portended a brief major league stay. But against the odds, Mayers stuck around, and when the Los Angeles Angels plucked him off of waivers after the 2019 season, he developed into a steady piece in their bullpen.

In 2020 and 2021, Mayers' best seasons, he held a cumulative ERA of 3.34 in 105 innings. His ERA+ was 135, which labeled him as a solidly above-average relief pitcher. His next two seasons, split between the Angels and the Kansas City Royals, saw him struggle to a 5.84 ERA, and he spent his final year with the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Mayers easily could have flamed out of the major leagues after his debut with nothing but terrible memories of a start gone horribly awry, but even though his career turnaround didn't take place in St. Louis, it should warm the hearts of Cardinals fans who witnessed that fateful game. Instead of looking back on what might have been, Mayers embarked on a journey that he said sparked lifelong friendships and once-in-a-lifetime memories.