Wainwright gets start for Cardinals in today's season opener

ST. LOUIS -- Starting on opening day can be a distraction, especially for the St. Louis Cardinals considering all the pomp and circumstance.

Adam Wainwright has no worries heading into his first opening-day assignment today against the National League champion Colorado Rockies. He'll just block it all out, the way he did last summer while putting together one of the best second halves in the National League.

Wainwright's 14 victories are the most in franchise history by a first-year starting pitcher, and his 2.71 ERA after the All-Star break was third-best in the league. His secret: right before heading to the bullpen for his warmup tosses, Wainwright finds a seat close to the stands where he can grow accustomed to the crowd noise.

"Somewhere where I could hear the fans chirping a little bit, and kind of by the end of it I try to phase them out," Wainwright said Sunday. "It's a locking-in, preparation thing that I like to do.

"You're hearing everybody and intentionally listening to them until your mind kind of phases them out and gets used to it."

Wainwright successfully used that tactic in the 2006 World Series, when he was the fill-in closer after Jason Isringhausen underwent hip surgery. Wainwright allowed no earned runs in three games against the Detroit Tigers, and got the final out in the clinching Game 5 in St. Louis.

"I'm quite positive it can work for me on opening day," Wainwright said. "You hear them, but you don't hear every word; you don't hear every cuss word.

"But I don't think too much about it, because I don't want it to go away."

Pre-game festivities before the opener begin about 45 minutes before the first pitch with an appearance by the Budweiser Clydesdales. The roster and the franchise's Hall of Famers arrive in a preseason victory parade of sorts, circling the warning track in convertibles.

A scaled-down version of Missouri's marching band will play the Star-Spangled Banner, and coach Gary Pinkel, who led the Tigers to 12 wins and their first Big 12 North title, will throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Lastly, the team will pay tribute to the late Marty Hendin, their longtime vice president of community relations, and team president Mark Lamping on his final day in that post.

Then, finally, the 6-foot-7 Wainwright strides to the mound as the de facto ace for a team minus Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder. No pressure.

"I have very, very high expectations for myself, higher than anyone else in the world has for me," Wainwright said. "Whether it's because somebody's not here or not I'm going to relish and really enjoy it."