By Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio
Jefferson City, Mo. – Several hundred people braved snow-clogged streets and sub-freezing temperatures in Missouri's capital city to hear St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright deliver the keynote speech at the Governor's annual Prayer Breakfast.
He spent most of his address talking about his Christian faith, but also had plenty to say about his baseball career.
Wainwright told the audience that he got better as a player after he began to work on becoming mentally tough.
"And I'm gonna throw every pitch like it's the last pitch of the World Series...so I pitched the entire year with that mind frame, I did pretty good...and I don't know if you know the story, but that year, in 2006, in October, I threw the last pitch of the World Series," Wainwright told the audience.
His wife Jenny sat next to him as Governor Jay Nixon introduced him before his speech. Their two daughters were waiting at the Governor's Mansion, where the whole family had spent the night.
In a press conference after the event, Wainwright told reporters that he was disappointed that Cardinals batting coach and retired slugger Mark McGwire was passed over again for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"If you're talking about baseball and where it is today, (a) big reason for that is because of the home run race that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire had in the '90's...they did more than just hit home runs, they brought fans back, they brought baseball back...there's people in the Hall of Fame that have done much worse things than what allegedly Mark McGuire has done," Wainwright said.
Wainwright also says he's excited that Matt Holliday will be staying with the Cardinals. Holliday recently signed a $120 million contract.
"Well, I called him for a loan," Wainwright joked.