��ѿ��ý

ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright can add another bullet point to his resume: Savannah Banana.

The former Cardinals great turned baseball broadcaster came in to pitch for the Bananas on Friday night, and both he and the capacity crowd enjoyed every second of his Busch Stadium encore.

During a pause with two outs in the seventh inning, Wainwright’s Cardinals highlights began to play on the stadium video board as the crowd gradually realized what was in store. The noise rose to a crescendo when Bananas owner Jesse Cole introduced Wainwright and he emerged from the tunnel and up the steps of the first-base dugout.

“The coolest moment for me was when they started playing the video and people started getting the thought of what might happen,” Wainwright said after the game. “And then I felt that kind of buzz happening, and it really pumped me up. Adrenaline was flowing big time.”

Wainwright, who last pitched at Busch Stadium in 2023, high-fived his new teammates and tipped his cap to the crowd before taking the mound.

The crowd remained on its feet as Wainwright, who inherited a runner on first, began and ended his outing with his famous curveball. After allowing the first Party Animals batter he faced to reach on a well-placed groundball single, Wainwright ended the inning by inducing a flyout from the next hitter.

The Bananas uniform is a natural fit, Wainwright said.

“I’ve kind of always wanted to be dancing on the field and all those kind of things,” Wainwright said. “They don’t know what they had in me, because I would have been totally up for doing all those choreographed dances and stuff.

“I told Jenny (his wife) before they called, I was, like, ‘Man, I would love to do that someday.’ So when I was asked to do it, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Wainwright, who will return Saturday to his other vocation, broadcasting MLB games, isn’t ruling out future Bananas appearances.

“Maybe every three or four years, we’ll do it.”

As much as he and fans enjoyed the night, it capped the day of a lifetime for one of Wainwright’s new teammates.

Wainwright hung around in the dugout after the game, chatting with players including Imperial native Noah Niznik, Friday’s starting pitcher.

“I told him it was an honor just being a kid from here, growing up born and raised die-hard Birds fan,” Niznik said. “I just pretty much just told him thank you for battling for so long, wearing the Birds on the Bat on his chest and just competing every day.

“‘Thank you for being just truly an inspiration for me and my pitching career.’”

Niznik, who was introduced at the start of the game as a ��ѿ��ý native, got what was the loudest ovation to that point.

“Goosebumps,” Niznik said. “Basically, you kind of black out for a second, lock back in.

“You just look around (and) everybody is on their feet. It was just fun.”

It wasn’t the greatest of performances for Niznik, who allowed six runs in four innings. But thanks to the rules of Banana Ball — the team that wins each inning earns just one point no matter the margin — the letdown didn’t prove all that costly.

No matter the results, the Bananas never stop having fun and Niznik embodied that, flipping the ball between pitches and bobbing his head to the nonstop music.

Before the game, Niznik posed for photos and signed autographs for fans on the infield dirt, relishing the buildup to his first-ever game at Busch Stadium. He never got to play here during his prep career that saw the left-hander lead Vianney to the 2018 state championship.

For Niznik, the 4-2 Bananas win is a moment he’ll never forget. It’s also the most cherished moment in his two-year Bananas career.

“You can’t beat it,” Niznik said. “You finally get to come to your hometown, put on this show for the fans, have all your family here, so it’s special.”