Cardinals legend Adam Wainwright honoring team's late pitcher Darryl Kile while raising heart health awareness

The Major League Baseball world was stunned when Darryl Kile who threw a no-hitter in suddenly died of a heart attack at age more than two decades ago Kile's St Louis Cardinals were in Chicago on June to take on their NL Central rival Cubs when catcher Joe Girardi disclosed to the Wrigley Field crowd that their contest had been canceled due to a tragedy in the Cardinals family Former Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright who was in the Atlanta Braves organization at the time mentioned that Kile's death was the first time he felt kind of vulnerable CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM I was in Myrtle Beach South Carolina And I looked over at our guys and our guys were like you felt kind of fragile Wainwright declared in a latest interview with Fox News Digital If an All-Star no-hitter-throwing pitcher in the big leagues can just die out of nowhere then what's to say it couldn't happen to us too Wainwright joined the Cardinals the following year and Kile's presence was still felt His jersey hung in his locker untouched at the old Busch Stadium until it was demolished in That was his locker That's how much he meant in that locker room to the guys in there to the Mike Matheny s and Matt Morris s and Rick Ankiel s and Chris Carpenter s Those guys were able to scrutiny under him every single day Wainwright declared He would teach a guy who was sitting right next to him and say What are you thinking about this right here What are you thinking about Why is he going to throw this next pitch What's the hitter looking for and this and that He taught them how to prepare So by the time I got there I'm sitting next to Matt Morris and Chris Carpenter and Matt had learned from Darryl and Matt was able to pour into Carp and Carp was able to pour into me It was just passing it down and it takes that great veteran leadership a lot of times in a clubhouse to make it run But that was Darryl Kile And when you look at the success of the last two decades we ve had in St Louis when I look back at the lineage of the Cardinals have had in the great success we've had so much of it comes from great leaders like Darryl Kile CUBS ROOKIE REPLICATES INCREDIBLE BOB GIBSON FEAT IN WIN OVER PIRATESThe Cardinals' bloodline still runs deep and generations of Cardinals are coming together later this week Wainwright and Kile's daughter Sierra will each throw out the first pitch at the Cardinals' battle on Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers to kick off the team's partnership with Merck to help raise awareness for the vulnerability of heart infection and high cholesterol What we're just trying to do is spread awareness for the silent killer The thing that kills more people and the country and in the entire world every single year is esoteric cardiovascular malady Wainwright explained If you're conscious of your strength and you're going in and seeing healthcare professionals a lot bulk of the times this is caught early but so various times it's the silent killer So what we're trying to do is raise awareness It's a great collaborative effort here that if we could get in front of as plenty of people as we can we could hopefully change even if we just change one life that's a big deal So it's major to me for various reasons but especially to be a St Louis Cardinal and to be associated with Darryl Kile Wainwright is encouraging everyone to speak with their doctors before it's too late When you're young you feel invincible and so this is a message not just for people who are up in years - this is for a message for young people as well Make sure you go in and meet with your health professionals and see what necessities to be done for you he disclosed It s very significant to meet with your curative professionals and see what's exactly that you need in your life Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter