ST. LOUIS – The Savannah Bananas celebrated their first trip to St. Louis with surprise pitching appearances from three former St. Louis Cardinals: Adam Wainwright on Friday, followed by Lance Lynn and Jason Isringhausen on Saturday.
All three closed out an inning, wore their longtime Cardinals numbers, and walked off the mound to thunderous ovations.
Wainwright and Lynn both ended their cameos with a flyout, while Isringhausen needed just one pitch (a lineout to second base) to take care of business.
Isringhausen, the oldest of the three, felt his outing was well worth it, but it took him some convincing.
“The Cardinals and the Alumni group reached out to me and asked me if I was willing to do it. I turned them down the first couple of times, but my girls egged me on to do it,” said Isringhausen.
“One pitch. One out. It was harmless,” he added. “I was good for one time, and that’s enough.”
The Savannah Bananas are known for their fan-focused approach and entertaining twists to traditional baseball. The Bananas have welcomed several former MLB pitchers for brief outings, including Cy Young winners Corey Kluber and Jake Peavy. They took that trend to another level this weekend, inviting three popular 21st-century Cardinals pitchers.
Isnrighausen praised the Bananas for their support and unique style of play.
“A good group of guys,” said Isringhausen. “What they do with the crowd, the fans, and the kids is pretty amazing.”
“I think it’s great for the kids. It’s a two-hour time limit and keeps all the kids involved. Fly balls into the stands are outs if they get caught, so it keeps everyone involved. And throughout the game, all the players are running through the stands, so it’s pretty cool.”
Wainwright, Lynn, and Isringhausen have a combined 296 wins, 221 saves and 3,603 strikeouts in their careers as Cardinals.
The Savannah Bananas drew crowds upwards of 44,000 fans for both games and swept a two-game set against their exhibition rivals, the Party Animals.