St. Louis Cardinals baseball pitcher Adam Wainwright received a special gift at his retirement ceremony: a puppy.
According to Sunny Skyz, Wainwright, 42, promised his children they could get a puppy when he retired.
During the retirement ceremony at Busch Stadium Sunday, emcee John Rooney stated, “What would a farewell ceremony be without parting gifts?”
Bill Dewitt III, president of the Cardinals baseball team, presented him and Yadier Molina each with a silver Tiffany bowl in honor of their “record-setting 328 starts as a battery on Oct. 2, 2022.”
Dewitt also announced the team is donating $100,000 in Wainwright’s name for his charitable efforts to provide clean water to people in Honduras. He was also given a custom-made Cardinals-themed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.
The last gift was coordinated with his wife. She brought it onto the field in a basket where he pulled out the chocolate Lagotto Romagnolo puppy dressed in a Cardinals shirt.
Adam Wainwright has always told his kids they couldn't get a dog until he retired from baseball.
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 1, 2023
The Cardinals just gifted him a puppy
pic.twitter.com/HvIqL3j4Hb
He hugged the puppy and shared it with his kids as fans cheered. The Wainwrights have four daughters: Baylie Grace, 17; Addison, 14; Macy James, 11; and Sadee Faith, 5; and a son, Caleb Adam, 4.
During the ceremony, Rooney called him, “One of the greatest players to wear the birds on the bat.”
He also noted, “These last two seasons with Adam have brought us some of the best moments of his career.”
Wainwright played for nearly two decades in which he scored two strikeouts that are some of the highest ranked in Cardinals history.
Wainwright noted before Sunday’s Cardinals-Reds game season finale, “Seeing all these wonderful people here in the stands — I can’t feel a bigger feeling of a blessing for being a St. Louis Cardinal this long,” via the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
“I wouldn’t change anything in the world for that. I love you all. … I can’t wait to spend a lot of years back here in Cardinals Country,” he added.