One day after the Cardinals relieved manager Mike Matheny of his managerial duties on July 14, 2018, ace pitcher Adam Wainwright compared the shakeup to Albert Pujols’ decision to sign with the Angels after the 2011 season.
“It was like an organizational transformational moment,” Wainwright said. “The wake-up call to the team arrived today.”[1]
Matheny’s ouster followed an 8-2 loss to the Reds at Busch Stadium, but it wasn’t the homefield defeat that led to his ouster. It wasn’t even the Cardinals’ disappointing 47-46 record or the fact that they were on their way to missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, something that hadn’t happened since the 1997-1999 seasons. Instead, it was the sense that the franchise needed to change its trajectory.
“I don’t feel like our trend line was taking us in that (positive) direction anymore,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “Even if it’s just slowly decaying, you’re going to wake up at some point and find yourself in a bad spot. You could say, ‘You’re already there, chief.’ The point is, we felt we couldn’t wait any longer. Change felt inevitable.”[2]
The Cardinals had seen diminishing returns since at least 2015. In the wake of Tony La Russa’s retirement following the 2011 World Series championship, the Cardinals made the 41-year-old Matheny the youngest manager in the majors. Though he didn’t have any professional coaching or managerial experience when he accepted the job, Matheny led the Cardinals to the NLCS in his debut season.
In 2013, Matheny guided the team to 97 wins, the NL Central Division Championship, and the National League title. The following year, the Cardinals reached the NLCS again, and in 2015, they won 100 games to claim the NL Central title for the third consecutive year before bowing out to the Cubs in the NLDS.
In 2016, the Cardinals missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010, finishing 86-76 to finish second to the Cubs in the NL Central. The next year, the Cardinals finished third with 83 wins, this time trailing both the Cubs and Brewers. At the time of his firing, Matheny’s Cardinals were once again in third place, 7 ½ games behind the division-leading Cubs.
The team’s record, however, only told part of the story. Two weeks earlier, Mozeliak stirred controversy when he seemed to question the effort of struggling outfielder Dexter Fowler, who was batting just .171 in the second year of a five-year, $82.5 million contract and had begun to lose playing time to young center fielder Harrison Bader.
In an interview with Fox Sports Midwest, Mozeliak said, “It’s been a frustrating year for everybody involved. Here’s a guy who wants to go out and play well. I think he would tell you it’s hard to do that when you’re not playing on a consistent basis. But I’ve also had a lot of people come up to me and question his effort and his energy level. You know, those are things that I can’t defend. What I can defend is trying to create opportunities for him, but not if it’s at the expense of someone who’s out there hustling and playing hard.”[3]
A couple of days later, The Athletic reported that Fowler and Matheny hadn’t spoken for months.[4] That report was followed by another story in which The Athletic reported that veteran relief pitcher Bud Norris had been “mercilessly riding” rookie reliever Jordan Hicks and would report to Matheny whenever he felt his teammates were “not living up to the standards the team set in spring training.” In some instances, Matheny would fine players based on Norris’s reports.[5]
The story raised questions about Matheny’s skill in managing his players and in the clubhouse culture he had established. When asked if Hicks would grow to appreciate Norris’s tough love, Matheny answered, “Probably not, but Bud’s going to continue to do what he thinks is right as a veteran, so you respect that.”[6]
Matheny’s words raised eyebrows, locally and in the national media.
“A few decades ago, that answer would have been completely unremarkable from a manager—but not so much anymore, not in a game that banned rookie bullying and hazing in its most recent collective bargaining agreement,” Emma Baccellieri wrote on SI.com.[7]
Ironically, Matheny’s reputation as a clubhouse leader played significantly in the Cardinals’ decision to name him manager following La Russa’s retirement. As the Cardinals’ starting catcher from 2000 through 2004, Matheny won three Gold Gloves and was recognized as a calm, steady voice on a team filled with strong personalities.
As a manager, however, Matheny was late in embracing trends in bullpen management and defensive shifts. Baseball Prospectus ranked him last among active managers in its reliever management metric, and Baseball Savant ranked the Cardinals 23rd in the frequency of their defensive shifts.[8]
“He was one of the last guys to try to keep this game old school,” second baseman Kolten Wong said. “Everything is going to analytics and shifts and all this right now, but Mike was definitely one of those guys who loved the old-school aspect of playing.”[9]
After an 8-2 loss to the Reds in which Hicks allowed four runs in 1/3 of an inning, Matheny conducted his postgame press conference unaware that Mozeliak was informing hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller that their services were no longer needed. After his press conference was complete, Matheny, who still had more than two years remaining on his contract, found Mozeliak waiting to break the bad news.[10]
“I realize I have to take the responsibility,” Matheny said. “When we can’t get things going right, that’s my job. I know who shoulders the blame. The blame falls on my shoulder.”[11]
It was the Cardinals’ first midseason firing since 1995.
“When you see that happen it’s because us, as players, we’re not doing our job,” said Yadier Molina, Matheny’s successor behind the plate and the only member of the Cardinals’ roster who had played alongside Matheny. “I hate to say it, but that’s what it is. We’re not doing our job. The blame is on us.”[12]
“We all feel bad for Mike and ultimately it comes down on us,” agreed infielder Jedd Gyorko. “We’re the guys that go out there and play and perform. I feel like we haven’t done that good enough.”[13]
Matheny left the team as one of just four skippers to manage the Cardinals for more than 1,000 games. He compiled a 591-474 record over that span, good for a .555 winning percentage. His 591 wins trails only La Russa (1,408), Red Schoendienst (1,041), Whitey Herzog (822), and Billy Southworth (620) in franchise history.
“I never set that as one of my goals – to be as successful as Whitey or Red or Joe (Torre) or Tony,” Matheny said. “That was never part of my definition of what success looked like. I can’t be what other people want me to be.”[14]
Bench coach Mike Shildt was named interim manager in what Mozeliak termed “an extended interview.”[15] On August 28, the interim tag was removed and Shildt was officially named manager. The Cardinals finished the season with a 41-28 record under Shildt for an 88-74 overall record, 2 ½ games back of the wild card.
The following year, Shildt led the Cardinals to 91 wins en route to the NL Central Division title and a berth to the NLCS.
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[1] Derrick Goold, “Mozeliak says firings were inevitable with team faltering,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 26, 2018.
[2] Derrick Goold, “Mozeliak says firings were inevitable with team faltering,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 26, 2018.
[3] Bill Baer, “John Mozeliak calls into question Dexter Fowler’s effort and energy,” NBC Sports, https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/07/02/john-mozeliak-calls-into-question-dexter-fowlers-effort-and-energy/.
[4] Mark Saxon, “Are Dexter Fowler and the Cardinals headed for a divorce? Sure seems like it,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/422240/2018/07/05/are-dexter-fowler-and-the-cardinals-headed-for-a-divorce-sure-seems-like-it.
[5] Mark Saxon, “Veteran Bud Norris is leading the young Cards bullpen with a divisive old-school approach,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/428599/2018/07/11/bud-norris-st-louis-cardinals-bullpen-jordan-hicks-relationship-mike-matheny.
[6] Mark Saxon, “Veteran Bud Norris is leading the young Cards bullpen with a divisive old-school approach,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/428599/2018/07/11/bud-norris-st-louis-cardinals-bullpen-jordan-hicks-relationship-mike-matheny.
[7] Emma Baccellieri, “Poor On-Field Decisions, Clubhouse Issues Led Cardinals to Change Course From Mike Matheny,” SI.com, www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/15/cardinals-fire-mike-matheny-tactical-errors-clubhouse.
[8] Emma Baccellieri, “Poor On-Field Decisions, Clubhouse Issues Led Cardinals to Change Course From Mike Matheny,” SI.com, www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/15/cardinals-fire-mike-matheny-tactical-errors-clubhouse.
[9] Peter Baugh, “Cardinals players reflect on Matheny,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.
[10] Derrick Goold, “Cards Fire Matheny,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 15, 2018.
[11] Rick Hummel, “‘I’ve Got Nothing But Gratitude,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.
[12] Derrick Goold, “Mozeliak says firings were inevitable with team faltering,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 26, 2018.
[13] Steve Overbey (Associated Press), “Players take blame after Matheny is shown the door,” Belleville News-Democrat, July 16, 2018.
[14] Rick Hummel, “‘I’ve Got Nothing But Gratitude,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.
[15] Ben Frederickson, “It’s an audition for Shildt on the Cards’ stage,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.