Waino Was Bueno

The setting is October 2014. The Cardinals were down three games to one to the San Francisco Giants. Adam Wainwright was slated to pitch Game 5 but his status was in question due to health concerns. Madison Bumgarner was pitching for the Giants. Wainwright had just surrendered nine runs in nine innings in his previous two starts, so Cardinals fans were not exactly beaming with optimism. But then Adam Wainwright took a familiar form, and for seven innings it looked like the Cardinals might have a fighting chance after all.

We later found out just how badly Wainwright had been hurting. A piece of cartilage was trimmed from his elbow and then he admitted at the Winter Warm Up that there were times when he could not even open household condiment jars, which makes his performance that day all the more remarkable.

Yes, the Cardinals lost. Yes, Adam Wainwright had a goatee. But this is a game worth remembering anyway.

Much thanks to Brooks Baseball and Baseball Reference where I found the numbers used in this comic.