By Rob Rains
For the 12th consecutive year, STLSportsPage.com has spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve counting down the top seven Cardinals stories of the year.
It’s now time to reveal the top story of the year – the end of Adam Wainwright’s illustrious career with the Cardinals, capped off by earning his 200th career victory in what turned out to be his last game on the mound.
Wainwright’s retirement marked the end of an era. When the Cardinals play their first game in 2024, it will be the first time that none of the trio of Wainwright, Yadier Molina or Albert Pujols will be on the Cardinals roster since Oct. 16, 2000, the fifth and final game of the NL Championship Series against the Mets.
The 200th career win was one of the few pitching highlights in 2023 for Wainwright, who suffered through an injury-filled year. Click Here to read our story from that milestone victory, a 1-0 win over the Brewers on Sept. 18 at Busch Stadium.
Before the end of Wainwright’s career became official, he got a final at-bat in the last game of the season, as tributes poured in from former and current teammates about how much Wainwright had meant to them during their careers.
To read that collection of first-person tributes to Wainwright’s legacy Click Here
Here is the recap of the rest of the stories that made the list of the top seven Cardinals stories from 2023:
Number 2 – Cardinals fall into last place, lose 91 games
This story was a year in the making – a 71-91 finish, the team’s worst since they lost 92 games in 1990.
A poor start left the Cardinals nine games under .500 by the end of April and the team was never able to overcome that deficit because of injuries, a shaky starting rotation and poor performances out of the bullpen.
When the season was finally over, the Cardinals were 21 games out of first place and for the first time in the three-division era were in last place.
To read our story about the final game and the end of Adam Wainwright’s career Click Here
Number 3 – Cardinals sign three free agents, led by Sonny Gray
The story which ranked third on our list in 2023 hopefully will have more of an impact on the 2024 Cardinals – the signing of three free agent starters, led by Sonny Gray. Gray signed a three-year deal with the Cardinals in November after finishing second in the AL Cy Young award voting for the Minnesota Twins.
To listen to Gray’s introductory press conference with the Cardinals, Click Here
The signing of Gray came a week after the Cardinals also signed former Cardinal Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson to one year deals, with an option for a second season.
Number 4 – Cardinals make flurry of deadline trades
This story actually was two stories combined into one – the three trades the Cardinals made in the final two days before the Aug. 1 deadline with the Blue Jays, Rangers and Orioles.
Because of the team’s disappointing performance on the field, the Cardinals traded pitchers Jordan Hicks, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty and shortstop Paul DeJong in exchange for numerous prospects.
Click Here to read the story after the final deal, sending Flaherty to the Orioles.
For our story from July 30 on the trades with Toronto and Texas involving Hicks and Montgomery, Click Here
Number 5 – Scott Rolen heads to Cooperstown
The election was expected to be close and it was. By a margin of only five votes, Rolen earned his spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The story coming in fifth was the news that another former Cardinal, Scott Rolen, was headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The election was expected to be close and it was – five votes. To read our story about that memorable day for Rolen and his family, Click Here:
Number 6 – David Freese turns down spot in team’s Hall of Fame
Freese was voted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame by fans in his first season of eligibility, but a couple of months before the planned induction ceremony, he announced that he was declining the honor.
Freese, the hometown hero of the Cardinals 2011 World Series championship, announced his decision in a press release issued by the team.
To read our story from that day, including the statement from Freese, Click Here:
Number 7 – Cardinals play historic games in London
They were two games against the Cubs in June that stood out not because of anything significant that happened in the games but because of where they were played.
The two-game series was played in London, the first time in franchise history the Cardinals played a regular-season game in a country other than the United States, Canada or Mexico.
The Cardinals were blown out in the first game as Adam Wainwright gave up more hits than he recorded outs. Click Here to read the story from that game.
In the second game of the series, the Cardinals rebounded to get the win behind a four-hit game from Willson Contreras, rallying from a four-run first-inning deficit. Click Here to read the recap of that game.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
