BALTIMORE -- While in the twilight of an exceptional career, Adam Wainwright?isn¡¯t done pitching just yet. Still, he¡¯s already planning his next act -- as a recording artist.?

You heard that right. The longtime Cardinals hurler plans to reinvent himself in retirement as a country singer-songwriter, and the St. Louis faithful he¡¯s pitched in front of for decades is going to get a sneak peek of what that looks like.?

The Cardinals' weekend-long celebration of Wainwright¡¯s career later this month will feature an on-field concert from Wainwright himself. Wainwright is booked to perform three new original songs after the Cardinals¡¯ game on Sept. 30 against the Reds, and he plans to release a 15-track so-far untitled album sometime early in 2024.

¡°To be able to play music in front of a crowd is like a dream come true,¡± Wainwright told MLB.com. ¡°I played one show this offseason where I had like 800 people there, and I felt like I was taking them out for Game 5 of the World Series. The jitters were back. I walked on the stage, and it was like pitching.¡±

A lifelong country music fan, Wainwright was a longtime amateur guitarist by 2017, when former teammate Matt Holliday began inviting him to his Florida house during Spring Training for jam sessions. Through a mutual friend, he connected with Grammy Award-winning singer, writer and record producer Gary Baker, who encouraged Wainwright to share some of his original work.?

Intrigued, Wainwright did. Baker provided feedback. Wainwright tweaked, reimagined and re-recorded. Full songs began to take shape. More opportunities presented themselves, such as collaborations with accomplished songwriter Greg Barnhill.??

¡°I would send them a song about my life, and they would tweak it to make it Nashville-worthy,¡± Wainwright said. ¡°It¡¯s been fun. They¡¯ve taught me a lot.¡±?

Eventually, Wainwright accumulated enough material for a full debut album. He¡¯s dabbled in live performances, including a well-received rendition of the national anthem on Opening Day 2023. Wainwright also performed last winter at the aforementioned 800-person benefit concert and sang for a crowd on a boat when the Cardinals were in London earlier this summer.

¡°I don¡¯t get real nervous in baseball, so [performing] kinda puts me outside of my element,¡± Wainwright said. ¡°When you¡¯re telling your own story, singing your own song and nobody has heard it yet, there is this whole element of ¡®I hope they like this. I hope they don¡¯t hate this. I hope they don¡¯t start throwing tomatoes at me.¡¯?

¡°Being a singer on stage, there is not much room to cover it up if you make a mistake,¡± Wainwright said. ¡°It¡¯s very similar to starting pitching. If you have a bad day playing left field, there are eight other guys in the lineup to drive in the run or whatever. When you¡¯re starting pitching, you can lose a game in five minutes. Being out there on that island is something I kind of love, and so maybe that¡¯s why I like doing this so much.¡±??

Asked for his artistic influences, Wainwright listed some of country music¡¯s biggest stars: Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, George Strait. He is also friends with Craig Campbell and Cole Swindell, and has made inroads in Nashville through his connections to Baker and Barnhill.?

¡°If people laugh and make fun of me, then I can handle that,¡± Wainwright said. ¡°I can roll with the punches. I never have minded making a fool out of myself, so we¡¯re gonna see if I do it again.¡±?

For more information or to purchase tickets for Wainwright¡¯s farewell weekend, fans can visit cardinals.com/waino.