Wayne Wright, a year younger than him, laughed at the 40s who faced off for the first time in 13 years.
Adam Wainwright (40, St. Louis Cardinals), who met an opposing starting pitcher older than him for the first time in five years, pitched well today, overshadowing his age.
Wainwright took the mound as a starting pitcher in an away game against the New York Mets at City Field on September 14 (Korea Standard Time). Wainwright faced Rich Hill (41) on the same day.
Wayne Wright and Hill are both players in the 40th row. According to Elias Sports Buro, an official Major League record company, Wainwright and Hill will play their first starting match in their 40s since the 2015 match between Bartolo Colon and R.A. Ducky. Hill tactfully expressed his feelings about the showdown between starting pitchers in their 40s in an interview the day before the game, saying, “The U.S. is the day of the Retirement Association (AARP).
Wayne Wright, who has recorded 7 wins, 1 loss, and a 1.84 ERA since August, pitched well on the same day compared to his 30s. Wainwright did not face a big crisis after overcoming the full base crisis in the first inning. In the fifth inning, he made two outs and runners on first and third bases, but he overcame the crisis by blocking it with a straight hit to the first baseman.
In the meantime, the St. Louis lineup scored against Hill one by one. St. Louis, who scored the first run with Dylan Carlson’s double in the second inning, took Hill off the mound in five innings as Paul Goldschmidt scored two runs with a timely hit in the third and a home run in the fifth inning.
Wainwright pitched scoreless until the sixth inning and was replaced by T.J. McFarland in the bottom of the seventh inning and went down the mound. Wayne Wright, who recorded four hits, three walks, and four strikeouts in six innings, recorded his 16th win of the season with his team winning 7-0. Wainwright has recorded the most wins since 2014 (20 wins).
Wayne Wright and Hill, who made their major league debut side by side in 2005 when Lewis Garcia (21, Washington), the youngest player in the Major League this season, was five years old, have been playing in the big leagues for 17 years. Hill went through as many as 11 teams while Wayne Wright played for a team in St. Louis.
According to Sarah Reims of “MLB.com,” Wainwright will face a starting pitcher older than him for the first time in five years since Ryan Vogelsong in 2016. At that time, Wayne Wright was 35 years old, and Vogelsong was 37 years old.
In addition, the two players faced off as starters for the first time in 13 years and 4882 days since May 3, 2008, when they were in their 20s. This is the third longest gap in the past 25 years after Jamie Moyer-Randy Johnson (6439th) and John Smoltz-Greg Maddox (5416th).
Although it ended with Wayne Wright’s victory by decision, considering that starting pitchers in their 40s themselves are not common, both players showed pitches to be applauded.
