"When it first happened, I broke down" - Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt reveals he was inconsolable after getting fired
The St. Louis Cardinals have a new manager for the 2022 regular season, Oliver Marmol, who had previously been a bench coach for the team. The firing of Mike Shildt came as a bit of a shock to many fans since the team made the postseason a year ago. They eventually lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card round, though.
Mike Shildt is still torn up by the firing. He has spent the majority of his coaching career in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
'I have a broken heart:' Mike Shildt bares his soul about being fired by the #Cardinals usatoday.com/story/sports/m…
"I have a broken heart. It still hurts. It hurts bad. When it first happened, I broke down. I was inconsolable. I got better as time went on. Then I got down here, put on the Padres uniform, and it hit me. I love that organization, gave it everything I had for 18 years, we make the playoffs after they hadn't been there for three years. We get back to the standards of the Cardinals. We're set up to really go. The clean style of play, the culture, everything is in place. It feels like it was stolen away from me." - @ Mike Shildt via Bob Nightengale
St. Louis Cardinals manager bio: Mike Shildt
Mike Shildt began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals as a player scout in the Minor Leagues in 2003, primarily scouting in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Shildt eventually worked his way up the organization to become a coach in the minor leagues. By 2008, he was in charge of running the St. Louis Cardinals minor league workout camp.
By 2009, after spending a season as the hitting coach for the Johnson City Cardinals, he was promoted to become their manager. He eventually managed both the Springfield Cardinals (AA affiliate) and the Memphis Redbirds (AAA affiliate).
By 2017, Mike Shildt was once again promoted. This time, he rose to the Major Leagues as a bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Then, on July 14, 2018, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was fired halfway through the regular season. Shildt became the interim manager for the remainder of the season. Once he was manager, the Cardinals turned their season around, finishing with a record of 88-74. The team went 41-28 with Mike Shildt that season.
The 2019 season was a great year for the Cardinals as they broke their three-year playoff drought by going 91-71 and winning the National League Central. The team would go on to make the National League Championship Series before losing to the World Series champion Washington Nationals.
The Cardinals would make the playoffs again in 2020 and 2021 but would be knocked out in the opening rounds both times. After the 2021 season, Shildt was fired.
The Mike Shildt firing is still puzzling. His managerial record was a very respectable 252-199 over the course of four seasons. The team made three straight playoff appearances after missing three straight. It would be nice to see Shildt land a manager's job somewhere. He is more than deserving of one.