Sunday night’s ESPN telecast of the St. Louis Cardinals’ matchup with the Atlanta Braves was delayed about an hour due to rough weather around Busch Stadium. But credit to ESPN: They turned the delay into some incredible television with the help of Adam Wainwright.
Once the tarp was finally cleared and the game was nearing first pitch, a mic’d-up Wainwright went to the bullpen give a live interview as he was going through his regular pregame routine. The challenge of a rain day impacting a pitcher’s routine came up in the conversation, and that was when Wainwright offered some great insight while continuing his warmup pitches.
Adam Wainwright: Routine vs. Superstition. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OfwMblF60o
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 29, 2022
Wainwright said:
“Routine is great, as long as it doesn’t become superstition. If you’re out there thinking you gotta do exactly the same thing every time to have success, that’s making you a weaker competitor. If they told me right now I had eight pitches to get loose, I could do that. Because you are what your brain tells you you are.”
When it comes to using mic’d-up players in broadcast, it doesn’t get much better than that. Wainwright’s commentary legitimately added value to the broadcast. MLB fans certainly appreciated the whole interview as well.
This was how Twitter reacted
Adam Wainwright is mic'ed up for his pregame routine on ESPN. Not sure I've seen this before, but it's pretty cool.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) August 28, 2022
Adam Wainwright explaining his warmup routine in the Cards bullpen was some of the best baseball television I've seen.
— david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) August 29, 2022
Adam Wainwright on ESPN right now is some great TV. Rain delay created an opportunity and @dcone36 taking advantage.
— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) August 28, 2022
“You are what your brain tells you you are.”
-A. Wainwright https://t.co/f4BS1LacL3
— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) August 29, 2022
This entire segment was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen on a broadcast of any sport. Let alone baseball. This is purely genius. https://t.co/ULurTCXjcu
— Brett Wiseman (@broadcastbrett) August 29, 2022
Mic up every baseball player. Pepper the broadcasts with gems like this. It will save the sport. https://t.co/9qsJHu8ttU
— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) August 29, 2022
Man, this is such a great point!
“When you’re out there thinking you gotta do exactly the same thing every time to have success, then that’s making you a weaker competitor.” https://t.co/rqL9uopRPQ
— Nick Buonocore (@Nick_Buonocore) August 29, 2022
This whole interview was so good. Easily one of the best pieces of content I’ve seen ESPN produce in months.
Highly recommend young athletes check this out, regardless of sport. https://t.co/aq7HSn1xdr
— Ryan Brauninger (@R_Brauninger) August 29, 2022
This is great. "You are what your brain tells you you are." https://t.co/hejkB6aKui
— A Jason Tabrys (@jtabrys) August 29, 2022
Put microphones on players.
EVERY. GAME. https://t.co/JEJ8BwSHlS
— 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙱𝚄𝙻𝙻 (@TheSnortingBull) August 29, 2022
Superstitious goalies out there, listen to this and learn👇👇 https://t.co/e6enAGpTr2
— Gregory Balloch (@GregBalloch) August 29, 2022
This was a really cool segment https://t.co/Qmh5jK9RyC
— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) August 29, 2022
Baseball is so much better when players are given the opportunity to connect with the audience. It’s awesome that we’re seeing more of that this season.
