Maybe this will make the Cardinals more tolerable to Brewers fans — St. Louis has named former Brewers catcher Mike Matheny as their new manager. Matheny will have the tough task of following Tony La Russa, and he’ll be doing it without any managerial experience at any level.
Without any past experience, it’s hard to tell what kind of manager Matheny will be, and there’s no doubt that every move he makes will be under the microscope early and often.
Even though this is a Brewers blog, good luck to Matheny (but not too much). One of my favorite Brewers moments of the 90s was Matheny getting drilled with a pitch to the face, spitting out some blood (maybe even some teeth), and shaking it off like nothing:
“It looked like he had chewing tobacco in his mouth, his cheek was so big,” Valentin said. “I got his blood on my batting gloves and then when I got up to the plate I looked down and saw a pool of blood. I was trying to kick dirt over it to get that image out of my mind. I was scared.”
…
Matheny showered before heading to the hospital after the game. As he left the clubhouse, he poked his head in Garner’s office and announced: “I can play tomorrow.”
For lack of a better description, that’s pretty bad ass.
In other managerial news, it looks like Dale Sveum is getting a second interview in Boston. Evan Brunell of CBS Sports (who knows his Red Sox stuff as founder of Red Sox blog Fire Brand of the AL) notes that Sveum seems to be the favorite among the five Red Sox finalists. Sveum is running against Sandy Alomar, Jr., Gene Lamont, Torey Lovullo and Pete Mackanin. Brunell speculates that Sveum could be hired within the week if they feel the Cubs are going to make a serious move for Sveum.
So, if you’re a Brewers fan, how do you feel about Matheny getting the job in St. Louis? Are you pulling for Sveum to be hired in Boston?
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