Atlanta Braves’ Terry Pendleton likely to replace Tony La Russa at St. Louis Cardinals – MLB Update
In what seemed to be a fitting end to St. Louis Cardinals’ campaign this year, manager Tony La Russa has finally decided to retire as the manager of Redbirds after leading the side for 16 years, winning two World Series for the ballclub in this stretch along
with three pennants.
The Cardinals bounced back from 10.5 games behind Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card standings to first qualify for the postseason on the last day of the regular season and then overcome the likes of Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and the Texas Rangers
to win the Fall Classic for the 11th time in the history of the franchise.
Now that the skipper has called it a day, the ballclub’s management is looking for a replacement and it seems that the Cardinals will acquire Braves’ coach Terry Pendleton. Names such as Terry Francona, former coach of Boston Red Sox, Cardinals’ hitting
coach Mark McGwire, third base coach Jose Oquendo and pitching Coach Dave Duncan are being tossed as a possible replacement for La Russa. However, nothing is certain thus far.
Pendleton was considered for the managerial post before the 2011 season as well, but with La Russa returning to the ballclub, talks dried up. Now that the managerial post is vacant, the management might bring in the candidate whom they would have last year.
As a player, Pendleton proved his leadership abilities and thus earned respect when he started his coaching career. He commands respect from players and gives respect in return as well. Pendleton played for the Cardinals as well as for the Braves, spending
his first seven years at MLB with the former before being acquired in 1991 by the latter.
John Mozeliak, general manager of the Cardinals, said, "Tomorrow is going to be about the next chapter for the St. Louis Cardinals. We've started to think about it. We've put together a search committee. And we'll begin doing our due diligence late this
afternoon, and beginning tomorrow we'll hit the ground running. “
La Russa hinted that he will want to continue doing something in baseball, but nothing managerial of course. It will be interesting to see who Mozeliak appoints as manager for the next season.
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