ST. LOUIS – When he’s not scheduled to start every fifth day, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is up to some interesting adventures this season.
Wainwright had documented several strolls through road ballparks this year as part of a “DAPOMW” trend on Twitter, which he refers to as “Day After Pitching Old Man Walk.” He’s walked through Fenway Park, Kauffman Stadium and American Family Field among other venues throughout 2022. But his most recent one, which came at his home ballpark of Busch Stadium, is gaining quite a bit of attention.
On Tuesday, one day following a Cardinals victory and seven-inning gem, Wainwright walked around his longtime home and teased he was hiding an autographed baseball. In a photo he shared via Twitter, he labeled the ball with “Scavenger Hunt #1” and “6/28/22” while signing an autograph on the sweet spot of the ball.
Wainwright says Tuesday’s walk was documented by an MLB Network film crew, though it’s unclear whether they caught him hiding the ball. Nearly one hour after he first hinted he was hiding the ball, Wainwright teased a potential location for the ball at a hot dog stand.
No fans have publicly stated via social media whether they found the ball. The Cardinals nor Wainwright have yet to confirm who might have ended up with the ball either. Still, the challenge to find the baseball caught the attention of thousands of fans via Twitter.
With the hidden autographed baseballs for fans, the 40-year-old pitcher has delivered off the mound and on the mound this season. Playing on a one-year deal for the fourth straight year, Wainwright has pitched to a 6-5 record with a 3.07 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 91 innings pitched this season.
Wainwright and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina are less than 10 starts away from the MLB record as a battery, though reaching that record might depend on how quickly Molina can return from an ongoing knee injury.