***Official 2015 STL Cardinals Thread***

[BigRedChief]

2011 World Series Championship
2012 NLCS. One win from another WS appearance.
2013 World Series. Two wins from another World Series Championship
2014 NLCS. Three wins from another WS appearance

• Made the postseason 10 times in the last 14 seasons.
• Only 1 losing season since 2000.
• Reached the World Series 4 times since 2004 and won as many championships (two) the past eight seasons as it did from 1965 to 2005.
• Made the NLCS 9 times including the last 4 years 2011-2014
• Three million attendance? Take it to the bank.
• 65 post season wins since 2004. 22+ wins more than any other team.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Score?

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You're not going to like what you get if you just throw Grichuk out there every day. You're whistling past the graveyard with him here, IMO.

I know he looks like shit at the plate almost every game. REALLY bad AB's. I'm sure its my hatred of Jay more than Grichek will be a consistent MLB player.

He's going to get his chance now with Holliday to prove himself or prove the doubters.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I am just stunned by how bad Mike Matheny is at managing a baseball team.

I've noticed that I don't have as many Matheny induced meltdowns this year. MAYBE I'm getting use to his dumbass moves or he is getting better

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I've noticed that I don't have as many Matheny induced meltdowns this year. MAYBE I'm getting use to his dumbass moves or he is getting better

It's not the post-season yet.

But he's nuked his setup man...again. He's overworking the hell out of Wacha and to a lesser degree Martinez - guys that we'll need healthy/effective in September. He has an 8 man bullpen yet will still find ways to use only 3 of them with regularity. His insists on having a bench with Pete Kozma on it and will actually use the guy.

And again, yesterday might have been the single dumbest thing I've seen him do thus far. I still can't wrap my head around that one.

You're just getting used to his idiocy. Tactically, he's not gotten one scrap better at this. Perhaps he's a great leader and so his guys play hard for him...fine. But in October he's still going to have Bruce Bochy running laps around him and with Hurdle and Maddon in the division, that's going to be a problem as well.

He might be a good manager for a 162 game grind, I'm not convinced he is, but it's at least an open conversation because it does appear that players appreciate his managerial style. However, in the playoffs when you actually need to have the tactical acumen of a golden retriever, he comes up short.

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I am just stunned by how bad Mike Matheny is at managing a baseball team.

At least you dont have Don Mattingly managing your team. He's down right ****ing awful.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

At least you dont have Don Mattingly managing your team. He's down right ****ing awful.

I've always said the exact same thing.

"Y'know, at least we don't have a guy that would double-switch Adrian Gonzalez out of a tie ballgame so we could just keep walking Hanley Ramirez and attacking Michael Young and a flailing Yasiel Puig..."

I took some comfort in the fact that Mike Matheny has never done anything that stupid. Then yesterday he did something exactly that stupid. I mean lets face it, a 1-run game in Coors is about as tenuous as a tie game anywhere else. And there went Mike - pulling the only consistent offensive weapon we've had for weeks and putting in Pete Kozma so he could get that double-switch in.

You say we don't have Mattingly but ultimately, Matheny just did the one stupid thing I always held against Mattingly when I thought he was arguably worse than Mike.

They're both equally stupid at this point, IMO.

[Hootie]

I've learned that every diehard fan of their team that watches at least 2/3 of their team's games hates the manager and thinks he's awful.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

I've learned that every diehard fan of their team that watches at least 2/3 of their team's games hates the manager and thinks he's awful.

I liked LaRussa. He frustrated me but I thought he gave us a decided advantage over our opponents far more often than not.

I've never once watched a Cardinals game and felt like the Cards had any kind of tactical advantage over the opposing team with Mike Matheny at the helm. When you watch LaRussa toy with Roenicke (it really was a Master's class in managing) and then see Bruce Bochy absolutely de-pants Matheny every single time they face each other, you really notice the contrast.

LaRussa's personality is off-putting but his bonafides were never in doubt. Matheny is the opposite. He appears to be a nice guy but the guy just isn't a sound tactician. Honestly, I really do think it's a raw intelligence thing. I just don't think he's a very smart person.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I liked LaRussa. He frustrated me but I thought he gave us a decided advantage over our opponents far more often than not.

I've never once watched a Cardinals game and felt like the Cards had any kind of tactical advantage over the opposing team with Mike Matheny at the helm. When you watch LaRussa toy with Roenicke (it really was a Master's class in managing) and then see Bruce Bochy absolutely de-pants Matheny every single time they face each other, you really notice the contrast.

LaRussa's personality is off-putting but his bonafides were never in doubt. Matheny is the opposite. He appears to be a nice guy but the guy just isn't a sound tactician. Honestly, I really do think it's a raw intelligence thing. I just don't think he's a very smart person.

I talked to a lot of baseball players who were not that smart, but I think Matheny was perhaps the dumbest guy I ever interviewed. Hell of a nice person, though.

Now that Kirk Gibson has been canned, I think Matheny and Robin Ventura are the two worst managers in baseball.

I've never seen Matheny do anything as stupid as intentionally walking Jeff Francoeur TWICE in the same series, but I don't see him manage as much as I do with Ventura...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I talked to a lot of baseball players who were not that smart, but I think Matheny was perhaps the dumbest guy I ever interviewed. Hell of a nice person, though.

Now that Kirk Gibson has been canned, I think Matheny and Robin Ventura are the two worst managers in baseball.

I've never seen Matheny do anything as stupid as intentionally walking Jeff Francoeur TWICE in the same series, but I don't see him manage as much as I do with Ventura...

Ha! Really? That's pretty funny.

I can't claim to have ever spoken to him; it's just the impression I've gotten from interviews, articles, etc... It's interesting getting a first-hand account that corroborates that.

LaRussa, OTOH, I've gotten to go to a couple of luncheons and events that he was at where he'd take questions and afterwards hang around to chat. That guy is legitimately smart.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

A ton of people hated La Russa too though. Hootie is right for the most part.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

I've learned that every diehard fan of their team that watches at least 2/3 of their team's games hates the manager and thinks he's awful.

Thats probably true.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Thats probably true.

It may well be.

However, our manager is objectively an idiot.

The fact that many people irrationally hated LaRussa does nothing to sidestep the fact that our present manager is dull as a tackhammer.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It may well be.

However, our manager is objectively an idiot.

The fact that many people irrationally hated LaRussa does nothing to sidestep the fact that our present manager is dull as a tackhammer.

IMO, the main job of a MLB manager in 2015 is to manage the clubhouse. Create a winning atmosphere. Get the players to play together. Manage egos. Get the players to buy into what he is selling etc.

He is obviously doing that. As Larussa says, they play a hard 9.

The other main part in 2015 is when to pull and insert pitchers. He is still a work in progress in this part of the job.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

IMO, the main job of a MLB manager in 2015 is to manage the clubhouse. Create a winning atmosphere. Get the players to play together. Manage egos. Get the players to buy into what he is selling etc.

He is obviously doing that. As Larussa says, they play a hard 9.

The other main part in 2015 is when to pull and insert pitchers. He is still a work in progress in this part of the job.

A manager is probably no more than +- 2 wins for a team. It's so overrated. But you're right, their most important job is managing the clubhouse. In game strategy and what not is honestly a distant second. Sadly.