You often hear in sports the term “signing bonus,” but do you think the longtime pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals had a “singing bonus” included in his contract?
Adam Wainwright, who is entering into his final season of professional baseball, was originally set to pitch for the Cardinals on Opening Day, but was scratched due to an injury he sustained playing in the World Baseball Classic.
Even though he didn’t take the mound in front of the sell out St. Louis crowd, he still managed to get every fan on their feet with his impressive rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
From the looks of the video, it appears that his national anthem performance was a surprise to his MLB teammates. Nicknamed “Uncle Charlie” and announced as so, Wainwright walked over to the microphone, rolling up his sleeves to get ready for the performance.
The 41-year-old pitcher is no stranger to music. He has aspirations to start up a country music career after he retires following this baseball season, and he even played a concert in Springfield, Illinois this past January for over 500 people. Of course, this stirring performance was in front of a little more than 500 people at Busch Stadium…
The crowd erupted at the end as Wainwright held the note and extended his arms to the fans. The future hall of famer couldn’t help but smile after his performance.
I wonder if he was more nervous for this national anthem performance than he would be to start a game pitching. It appears he has confidence in both, and I’m sure the Cardinals and their fan base would welcome his singing voice at any home game.
Wainwright is currently on a 15 day injury list, but hopes to bounce back and add to his career win total. “Uncle Charlie” is currently at 195 starter wins all time, which is only 15 wins short of tying second place in Cardinals franchise history.
The good news is, if he does try to pull off a country music career, he has a built in fan base made up of thousands of St Louis Cardinals faithfuls.
If you want to check in on his country music ability, here is Wainwright playing an original song at a concert from last year:
