Cardinals meeting done for day; La Russa decision holds key
Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals post-season meeting with team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., general manager John Mozeliak, manager Tony La Russa and staff is done for the day after two hours spent reviewing the season today at Busch Stadium.
No major announcements so far, Strauss reports, as most decisions will fall in line after La Russa makes his decision whether to return for a 15th season.
Among those decisions include the fate of pitching coach Dave Duncan and hitting coach Hal McRae.
Duncan expressed concern during the season with the organization’s different philosophies at the major- and minor-league level on pitching, but on Sunday Mozeliak said that “was water under the bridge.”
McRae’s future was the subject of speculation during the Dodgers’ series. He was at Monday’s meeting but left without commenting on his status.
(10 votes, average: 4.1 out of 5)
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We need to fire McRae and hire Larry Walker to be the new hitting coach.
I second that! Larry would be nice addition to coaching staff! Sorry Hal but somebody has to be axed after the offensive struggles!
Someone needs to teach the hitters not to swing at balls in the dirt all the time. If a ball comes at the plate no higher than the knee or calf let it go by without swinging at it. Some of the hitters don’t seem to know the strike zone anymore. But again walks don’t bring in the dollars in salaries I guess.
Bring in someone who can teach to hit to all fields. You can still sting the ball the other way. Power doesn’t have to mean pulling everything.
I’ve wondered for a while now how much faith the players have in McRae as a hitting coach. Or whether he’s even approachable–he sure doesn’t seem very approachable, but then, I still remember him jumping around having a temper tantrum in his long johns after a game when he was managing for KC. We often hear of players going elsewhere for hitting help, e.g., Skip gets help from McGwire in the offseason; Eckstein used to go to his brother for help (btw, Rick might be good to have on staff); Colby went to his dad earlier in the season; Albert goes to the videotape and Deidre for help; and it seems like a lot of guys ask Pujols for help, etc., etc. In any case, given the state of the Cardinals offense, really for the last 2 years, it’s perhaps time for a new point of view. Can’t hurt.
Skip Schumacher was on base 4 times in game #1 and was NOT in the lineup in game #2. And this managing ’style’ from La Genius is what you guys want back for another 1 or 2 years??
How about: Manager: Jose Oquendo
Hitting: Larry Walker
Pitching: Mike Metheny
Im with Omaha and the staff the he said. I think it would be an awesome change, and we need something to get these guys going.
Spelling: Matheny
I second the nomination for Mike Matheny; I have always thought he could be a great pitching coach. Hire him as bullpen coach now and let him develop.
I never thought of Larry Walker before; but that is a great idea, too. We need somebody these guys can really respect.