St. Louis Cardinals' manager satisfied with team’s performance in MLB 2012 – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny on Wednesday, October 31, said the team remained high-spirited despite facing adversity throughout the season. The Cardinals were eliminated from the National League Championship Series after the San Francisco Giants made a comeback and won the series 4-3.
"The team, overall, I never really saw them go flat because of the adversity," Matheny said. "It was almost like there were times when the adversity brought more out of them.”
Much as the result was disappointing, as the Cardinals were defending their World Series title, rookie manager Mike Matheny maintained his calm and composure, keeping the team’s morale high.
With 162 games of the regular season, the Cardinals fought well in the presence of competitive teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central.
One of the changes that were witnessed in the season was that the manager often brought the young players. At a time when a lot of senior players were either out or were struggling, the youngsters did really well.
Matheny said, "I always am quick to say that those [setbacks] present opportunities, and I saw opportunities for young players to step up like they all did. All those guys got put on the radar because of these issues. I didn't go into the season thinking that everybody was going to be around for all of Spring Training and 162 [games] plus the postseason. That's just not realistic."
With the likes of Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday facing issues, Lance Berkman, Kyle McClellan and Jaime Garcia facing respective injuries and Rafael Furcal gone after season-ending injury, Matheny – however, never let the team’s spirit dampen.
Keeping all that in mind, Matheny was right in the assessment that adversities offered opportunities as well. All said, the Cardinals made most of the opportunities that came their way.
Although they could not successfully defend the World Series title, Cardinals coming forward as one of the best teams in the National League under the auspices of Matheny bodes well for the future of the Redbirds, making them a very competitive side.
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