A 12th World Championship for the St. Louis Cardinals? Not likely this season. Not “mathematically” out of it YET but; the Mozeliak & Matheny Appreciation Society held its July meeting in that English telephone booth at The Cheshire Inn. OUCH!
The Twitter vultures are circling high overhead. The St. Louis Cardinals M&M Boys – John Mozeliak & Mike Matheny – are being advised not to plan any major home renovations for the next three months.
The dreaded “magic number count-out” could begin by mid-August. That crap happens in San Diego … not “in the shadow of The Arch”!!
A twin lynching? THAT won’t happen. It’ll be either Mike or Mo. Likely Mike.
Nothing that a 15-20 game win streak won’t solve. But the Cardinals have run out of Phillies for this season.
Going to Six Inning games is our best bet. The 7th – 8th- 9th innings are to Cardinals fans what sunrise is to vampires. Aaaaiieeeee…
In Football, they throw a “coordinator” under the bus before “someone you’ve heard of” gets axed.
Does Chris Maloney count? Probably.
Was “this” inevitable for Mike Matheny? Probably. Baseball keeps stats on EVERYTHING including how long has a rookie manager ever survived before his first firing? Someone please look that up for us.
I’ve always “liked” Mike Matheny. All I know is how he looks standing in the dugout. He does that well. My wife thinks so too. He does “stoic” very well.
I’ve seen video of some of his post-game pressers. Mike Matheny is not “quippy”. If he has ever said anything memorable I don’t remember it.
Which brings me to today’s question…
Has the implementing of Instant Replay doomed Mike Matheny?
Are you are old enough to remember Baseball Before Twitter? I just lost 70% of you. You might recall Earl Weaver – Billy Martin – Lou Piniella – Sparky Anderson – Tom Lasorda.
What you recall is their legendary Umpire Tantrums. From kicking dirt on the ump to turning their cap around to go nose-to-nose with the ump to all sorts of exaggerated manic behavior performed in full view of a stadium full of screaming fans.
We would learn later that much of that was scripted “theater” done solely to rile up the fans. The umps were in on the skits.
The result: We love our manager because obviously “HE CARES AS MUCH AS WE DO”. BINGO!
Under the replay rules, all Mike can do is stand at the top of the dugout and hold his hands to his ears. OUCH!
Not exactly “Sweet Lou” Piniella pulling up second base and throwing it at an ump.
Mike Matheny does not “emote” at least not where fans can see it. Maybe he rips a nonchalant player a new anal sphincter in his office, but no one sees it.
Sure, he can get tossed for “arguing balls & strikes”. Mike was tossed a few times for that but nothing Oscar-worthy.
The Twitter monkeys calling for Mike Matheny’s disembowelment sooner rather than later simply DON’T THINK HE CARES… as much as they do.
NO ONE CARES as much as a Fantasy League Nerd / Twitter Monkey of course.
Silly? Sure, but fans have the inalienable right to be silly. Everything Mike Matheny does has consequences. Nothing an irate fan does has any consequences at all.
Will Mike Matheny survive as Cards’ manager? Probably not.
Will I be a Cardinals’ fan regardless? Sure… won’t you be?
MORE BobLeeSays on Everything Else – LINK
The typical Board Monkey and Twitterer run the full gamut of insightful knowledge from A-B.
Somehow I just can’t picture umpire and Pitt County native Joe West scripting a hissy fit with a manager.
“Cowboy Joe” is a showman first and a 5,000 game MLB ump 2nd. I can easily see him playing along if he knew a camera was on him. He would demand control of his script however. “Cowboy Je” West is NOT a team player. 🙂
For those who didn’t know about Joe I found this tidbit in Wikipedia: He intended to play his college football career at ECU, but head coach Mike McGee resigned after his freshman year, prompting West’s transfer to Elon. While in college, West hoped to play both baseball and football. However, spring practice for football interfered with West’s ability to be on the baseball team as well. He concentrated on football and umpired high school baseball games on the side. In his three seasons at Elon, West was the starting quarterback and the team won three conference championships. He was named… Read more »
“Cowboy Joe is easily the most well-known and recognized MLB umpire today. I believe he is closing in on his 5,000 game which puts him in rarified MLB umpire status. As with all “high profile umps/referees”… every fan base is convinced Joe “has it in for our team”. He seems to relish his reputation…
This may be even more brilliant than your suggestion to outlaw batting gloves. Managers with teams under .500 and “on the hot seat” should be allowed one temper tantrum per game.
I won’t say “better than outlaw batting gloves”. That idea was Pure Gold, but I do like this one. Matheny going nose to nose with Cowboy Joe West would be a keeper!