Mike Matheny becomes the new manager of the St. Louis Cardinals – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals stunned observers on Sunday with the announcement of their new manager Mike Matheny. Surprising as the decision was, the Cardinals placed their bet on the skills and talent rather than going for experience alone.
Matheny’s appointment comes in the backdrop of La Russa’s retirement soon after the World Series victory as he served the club for 16 seasons. La Russa’s departure set off a flurry of hectic activities and a string of speculations as to who will replace
the maverick.
But with the two weeks’ intensive deliberations, whereby the Cardinals hardly gave any clue of who it wanted to hire, there appeared Mike Matheny who is now formally the 49th manager that the team has.
What distinguishes Matheny is his lack of managerial experience in the Major Leagues. From Jose Oquendo and former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, as well as Ryne Sandberg, Joe McEwing and Chris Maloney, his selection represents a clear alteration
of thinking in the club.
The fact that the club went for their former legendary player, Matheny a big league catcher, instead of experienced managers does also show the Cardinals’ determination to form a side that relies on character among other things, to grow further.
He is said to have commanded tremendous respect and exercises huge influence on the Cardinals due largely to the distinguished career he had. With no professional experience as a manager, the 41-year-old is in the league of the best defensive catchers in
the history of baseball.
His representing the team, as could be observed, brought about elation among the Redbirds. Matheny was tipped to be the manager at one point in time. But the fact that it came earlier than thought, brings about a kind of joyous surprise for every Cardinals’
fan.
Having won the Gold Glove Award thrice, Matheny maintained a .239 batting average with his 925 hits in his career and 443 RBIs. He remained part of four different teams in his career, starting from Milwaukee Brewers to the Toronto Blue Jays to the St. Louis
Cardinals and finally when he was part of the San Francisco Giants.
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