Cardinals great Adam Wainwright soars into a new career: playing country music

Adam Wainwright joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization in December 2003, part of a five-player trade that sent budding slugger J.D. Drew to the Atlanta Braves.

Less than three years later, as a rookie closer, Wainwright secured the final outs of the National League Championship Series and the World Series, as the Cardinals earned their first title since 1982.

Two hundred wins later — a tally good enough to place the Georgia native as the franchise’s third-winningest pitcher — Wainwright retired last year.

His final weeks in MLB included the kickoff of his next pursuit: professional musician. After the Cardinals trounced the Cincinnati Reds in September in front of a packed Busch Stadium on Sept. 30, Wainwright performed a three-song set from the batter’s eye in center field.