Wainwright: 'Sad to not come to these great parks anymore'

ATLANTA -- Some of Adam Wainwright’s earliest memories of loving sports center around him watching the Braves nightly, discussing Braves pitching strategies with his older brother, Trey, and idolizing Atlanta pitcher John Smoltz. And, to this day, one of his most prized memorabilia finds was an autographed picture of Sid Bream sliding safely into home to win Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series for the Braves.

Wainwright, a native of Brunswick, Ga., even got to take the boyhood dream a step farther when he was drafted by the Braves with the 29th pick of the 2000 MLB Draft where he would later become close friends, golfing partners and ping pong rivals with Smoltz.

However, Wainwright’s career path was forever altered on Dec. 13, 2003, when his once-beloved Braves traded him to the Cardinals. Now 42 and in his final MLB season, he would win the 2006 World Series, become a three-time All-Star and a two-time Gold Glover with the Cardinals. On Thursday, he’ll pitch in Atlanta and against the Braves for the final time in his career. While that is sure to stir a certain level of emotions inside of him, Wainwright stopped short of saying it will be a be-all, end-all moment in his storied career.

“I mean, if I’m going to be honest, the only one I’m going to be emotional about is Busch Stadium,” said Wainwright, who was honored prior to Wednesday’s game by the Braves. “I love playing here, and I love coming to Atlanta and I’ll be sad to not come to these great parks anymore. But I’m OK with it.”

Wainwright has been insistent in stressing that he never would have become the pitcher within two victories of 200 wins or one capable of closing out the 2006 NLCS and the ‘06 World Series had his career not taken him to St. Louis.

“The Braves drafted me, which was amazing, but I got traded and I didn’t have a choice in that, but it ended up being amazing for me,” he said. “Since then, all the contracts I have signed have been my choice, and I didn’t go anywhere because I wanted to be in St. Louis. I wanted to stay there, make a name there and help our franchise, which I felt like I did most of the time. It’s been a good partnership.”

Wainwright said the power of playing for one franchise was rammed home to him when Smoltz signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in August 2009. As much as Wainwright loved having Smoltz around -- their lockers were side by side and they were almost inseparable off the field -- he felt a sense of sadness.

“I looked at [Smoltz’s locker] and [number] 30 just didn’t look right. Thirty is not [number] 29 and he should have been 29 and wearing the ‘A’ on his shirt,” Wainwright said, referring to Smoltz’s number with Atlanta. “I like when guys play with one team.”

Wainwright had his upcoming start pushed from Sunday to Thursday, so he could better recover from last week’s strong, six-inning outing against the Padres. He will make his 11th start at trying to capture career win No. 199. Once 3-1 after beating the Mets on June 17, Wainwright has lost his last nine decisions, but he has pitched much better of late.

In his career, Wainwright is 10-4 with a 3.42 ERA against a Braves organization that traded him -- a Double-A prospect at the time -- along with Ray King and Jason Marquis for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero. He was 4-1 at Turner Field, and he’s 1-1 at Truist Park with a complete-game victory. He is expecting more than 100 friends and family in attendance -- even though some will have split allegiances.

“A lot of my friends are already here wearing Braves stuff, but they promised me tomorrow they’ll be wearing Cardinals stuff or at least neutral stuff,” he said. “I know for a fact several of my friends are rooting for me to do well and then the bullpen to struggle behind me. I get it, but they are also rooting for me to get two more wins.”