We've seen players mic'd up on the infield and in the outfield. At this year's All-Star Game, we saw a pitcher mic'd up on the mound. And as the proverbial mic gets passed around, we saw yet another new iteration of what's become a hit feature of baseball telecasts Sunday: a pitcher mic'd up while warming up.
Who better to inaugurate the practice than Adam Wainwright, who has been so fantastic while being mic'd up for broadcasts in the past? During a rain delay prior to the Sunday Night Baseball matchup between the Braves and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, ESPN's Boog Sciambi, Eduardo Perez and David Cone spoke with Wainwright, and as you might guess, it was pure gold.
"I apologize for my rattlesnake-ness," the veteran right-hander said. " ... These Braves guys are getting loose right across from me, and I can't be out here laughing and joking, you know what I mean? I gotta at least make 'em think I'm mad."
Wainwright may not have been able to laugh, but that didn't mean we couldn't as he held court while on the bullpen mound.
Cone asked Wainwright about his warmup routine prior to games, and Waino had some advice right off the top.
"Just remember, you young pitchers out there," Wainwright said as he walked into the home bullpen at Busch Stadium. " ... Warming up is just warming up. Don't put too much into it, you know what I mean? You're throwing the ball in the dirt, throwing the ball high. It does not mean you're going to do that in the game."
As he stopped his bullpen session to stand for the national anthem, Wainwright took his cap off and revealed a new haircut.
"I took my son to get a haircut yesterday," he said. "And he said, 'Daddy, will you please get a lightning bolt in your head like me?' And I said, 'Yeah, buddy. Let's do it. ... Nobody'll ever see it.'"
Not that Wainwright and the Cards were on national television or anything.
Since this was all happening at the end of a rain delay, Wainwright's typical routine was altered. But while he was told it would be an hour delay, in reality, it was a little over 40 minutes later when he had to start getting loose. Fortunately, he has a foolproof system for dealing with that. At least for home games.
"When these games happen and you're the home starter, guess what they can't do?" he said. "They can't start without you, baby. Especially if you're 40."
As he continued warming up, Wainwright had another message for pitchers tuned in to ESPN.
"All you pitchers at home laughing at me because I'm throwing 88," he said, "give it time."
Time is something that seems to have little effect on Wainwright, who turns 41 on Tuesday. He allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings in the Cardinals' 6-3 victory on Sunday, not figuring in the decision. He is 9-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 26 starts this season.
“I made the decision to do that because I felt it could be a great teaching moment for a lot of people, a great opportunity for baseball and a great opportunity for me," Wainwright said after the game. "It’s not something I want to do every time, but sometimes when I’m watching football and they mic a player up, that’s my favorite part of the whole thing, getting that inside access. I thought, ‘Baseball needs that,’ and I was glad to be able to do that today.”
We know he pitches well. But if you didn't know it before today, Wainwright's got a television career waiting for him should he pursue it after he retires from the mound.