St. Louis Cardinals fans get an early Christmas present with the firing of Mike Matheny — but where do they go from here?
By Payton Woolsey
We suck again! Something all St. Louis Cardinals fans have become all too familiar with the last three MLB seasons under manager Mike Matheny. What was once a benchmark for great defense and strong pitching, has become the trademark for pigeon-toed unathletic fielding — with errors littering the stats-sheet.
That appears to be no more, with the St. Louis Cardinals announcing via their Twitter account (of all places) that they relieved Mike Matheny of his managerial duties. In laments terms, you’re fired, as the Donald would say.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 15, 2018
Finally, the St. Louis Cardinals organization gave in to the terrorist demands of their fanbase, who have been calling for Matheny’s head for a while now — after his recent failures as an MLB manager.
A prime example of Mike Matheny’s failure during his tenure in St. Louis was the use of his bullpen — with the past two games as prime examples of such failure.
What the hell was former manager Mike Matheny thinking? He appeared to simply not know how to manage a bullpen or a Major League team for that matter.
He undoubtedly didn’t know how to run an MLB clubhouse, with many behind the scenes issues going on — more on that when that full report drops.
The first four seasons under Mike Matheny were some of the best in recent memory; including a trip to the World Series in his second season, three NLCS appearances, and three NL Central division titles. It seemed as he’d be leading the charge for the Birds on the Bat for years to come.
But, things dropped off quickly, and the St. Louis Cardinals are well on their way to missing the MLB Postseason for the third straight season. Even worse than that, it appears the team has given up and lost faith in their manager.
During the previous regime, Tony LaRussa (remember the guy who liked to pass out drunk at stoplights?) would try too hard at times and could be over the top with his passionate personality.
But at least he was never accused of not caring, unlike Matheny who appeared to not see what was going on in his own clubhouse, turning a blind eye to many problems, such as Bud Norris harassing rookie Jordan Hicks.
The team gave up on Matheny many moons ago.
Surely he cared for the team that he was once a great catcher for and wanted so badly to win — he just had an odd way of showing it.
It just wasn’t in the “cards” in St. Louis for Mike Matheny.
Anyways, I have nothing but the utmost respect for such a high character guy — he’s genuinely one of the better guys around in all of professional sports. However, that doesn’t necessarily qualify you to manage an MLB team.
The Birds on the Bat are down but not out, with a new manager providing the Redbirds a shot of adrenaline they needed right before the much needed (All-Star) break.
Most fans already seem in higher spirits not even two hours after the news. of Matheny’s firing — leaving many of them without anything to do, with bashing Mike Matheny becoming their past time.
— VCU-Alum (@HAVOC_VCU) July 15, 2018
Interim management Mike Shildt will now step in and try to right the ship. A job I do not envy. As bad as its been, at least we aren’t those no good dirty rotten Cubs.
The St. Louis Cardinals need to get back to their roots, of hardnose play and lights out pitching.
In the most recent comeback games its been Yadier Molina rallying the troops and getting morale boosted — maybe he can step in as a player-manager? It’s not a bad thing to see a player take charge, but wasn’t that Mike Matheny’s responsibility?
Instead, his stoic demeanor, with arms crossed leaning in the corner of the dugout while Molina did his job for him was not reassuring.
Matheny’s body language even when walking up to the mound during a pitching change undoubtedly said, “boy I hope this works, I’ll ask Yadi what to do.”
With Matheny gone, Yadi leading the charge, and some new blood at the helm will likely set a fire on the rear of the players. All is not lost in 2018, folks.
Who remembers the magical 2011 World Series title season, when the boys of summer came back from 10 games the final month of the season, sneaking into the postseason and winning it all?
Don’t pack it in quite yet. There is still a lot of baseball left to be played.
There is no doubt in my mind that this was the right call and should have been done sooner. Like two years ago, perhaps. What good has happened since 2015?
There’s no point in dwelling on the past, though. Hopefully, this time around the St. Louis Cardinals organization will hire someone with experience and/or some passion — like the Whitey-ball era.
Now, it’s the end of another era, a polar opposite of those Whitey Herzog days.
Redbird nation is pretty banged up and has a broken wing — but not a broken spirit. Though Mike Matheny has left us fans in a pile of rubble, let’s make like a Phoenix and rise from the ashes to be great once again.
Categories: MLB
