Adam Wainwright's generous gesture brings minor-league teammate to tears

Ryan Sherriff said he called his mom and she started crying, too

Give Cardinals veteran starter Adam Wainwright our fictional “good teammate of the day” award here. The 35-year-old Wainwright is one of the Cardinals’ elder statesmen and he took the role seriously this week after noticing several times during spring training that minor-league pitcher Ryan Sherriff was walking to the Cardinals’ complex.

The whole story is quite cool and well worth the read -- bonus points that it’s from one of the best beat writers in the business, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

The basics are that Wainwright asked Sherriff if he’d like a bike or a car and Sherriff declined, though Wainwright didn’t listen. From Goold’s story:  

“Waino got me a rental car,” Sherriff explained. “I freaked out a little bit. I started crying. I called my mom, and she started crying. Really, I’ve never had that experience. No one has ever done something so nice for me before.”

It’s a Nissan Altima with all expenses paid for spring training’s duration. Great gesture by the veteran teammate. 

Sherriff, 26, was drafted by the Cardinals in the 28th round out of West Los Angeles College in 2011. The signing bonuses in that range are in the low thousands, and playing in the minors for six years doesn’t yield much more than a paltry salary. For example, the minimum Triple-A salary is $2,150 per month, and players are only paid in-season (so for six months, meaning $12,900 a year). 

The lefty does have a chance to see time in the majors this season, though. He had a 2.84 ERA in 66 2/3 innings for Triple-A Memphis last season.