As the Cardinals open their 125th anniversary season Sunday at Busch Stadium, Martinez will, for the first time in his career, start opening night and, for the first time since Johnny Lush did in 1909 for the Cardinals, throw a season-opening pitch to the reigning World Series champion Cubs.

The Cubs did not have a single homegrown pitcher on their World Series pitching staff. Three years earlier, the Cardinals had seven, not including Adam Wainwright, who was acquired via trade as a minor-leaguer. The Cubs will start this season without a homegrown pitcher in the rotation.

The Cardinals will have three, four if Wainwright counts.St. Louis Post-Dispatch