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If Cardinal Way in play, Shildt should be the "guy"

Cardinal Nation had all but given up their Cardinals for dead but the surge under Shildt and his coaching staff has re-energized a fan base that was ready to move past a season that was destined at one point to be among the worst in the history of the franchise.
St. Louis Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt (8) walks on the field during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.The Cardinals defeated the Dodgers 5-3.

Under interim manager Mike Shildt, the Cardinals have played themselves from the precipice of postseason extinction into contending for a wild-card spot. Since the All-Star break, the Redbirds are 20-10, the best record 30 games into a manager's career in club history, averaging 5.03 runs per game and a second-half league leading 3.30 ERA.

This re-energized bunch of 'Birds has won 7 consecutive series resulting in a .645 winning percentage. Who would have thought the Shildt regime would help orchestrate a resurrection second only to that of Jesus Christ? Cardinal Nation had all but given up their Cardinals for dead but the surge under Shildt and his coaching staff has re-energized a fan base that was ready to move past a season that was destined at one point to be among the worst in the history of the franchise.

Now, FanGraphs gives St. Louis a 40.6% chance to make the playoffs, 35% as a NL wild-card participant.

The Cardinals are playing their best baseball now, having cut down on their errors in the field and base-running blunders tremendously. Their aggressive, sound approach to taking better at-bats, a more opportunistic method to base stealing and employing the hit-and-run have made this version of the 2018 Cardinals one of the most exciting teams to watch in the majors, that is unless you're the opposition whom Shildt unnerves and pressures throughout a game with his style of managing.

Bench coach Jose' Oquendo, who recently stated that he has no interest in becoming manager (and why should he after having been passed over when the team hired Mike Matheny in 2011 with no previous experience whatsoever?) openly endorsed removing Shildt's interim tag and installing him as the next Cardinals' manager,

Okay, 31 games in now following last night's rousing 5-3 victory over the Dodgers in LA is a relatively small sample size and too soon to make an official decision on Mike Shildt's status, immediate or long-term. The off-season will do just fine, thank you, but if the Cardinal Way is in play, Shildt should be the "guy". I know that former Yankee skipper Joe Girardi has publicly campaigned for the job, but he didn't come up through the Cardinal farm system with the managerial success, baseball knowledge, smarts and Cardinal Way indoctrination of Mike Shildt. John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, promoted Shildt to the position he now holds and has intimate knowledge and a professional take on what makes Shildt tick.

Because of that working relationship over time, it's easy to see why he'd have the inside track on being named manager, even be the front runner if not the only candidate under consideration. If you've watched his club, you've seen the clubhouse culture change dramatically. You've heard players talk about how he values everyone's input in team meetings, whether they've been in the majors 6 days or 16 years. Shildt wants no part of showing favoritism or preferential treatment of anyone. Snitches get stitches. There's no big "I's" or little "you's" when it comes to coaches or players. It's the "team" concept every day, every game. The Cardinals now talk "team", prepare as a team, play as a team. They win as a team or lose as a team. They're having fun. Shildt has this concoction of rookies and veterans meshing well, playing for one another. It's been a real blast the last month plus!

To say that Mike Shildt has been a breath of fresh air would be an understatement. Who cares about how he comes across on camera or whether he's a media darling? He's a baseball man, born and raised in North Carolina both in the fundamentals of the game and the Cardinal Way. He's got George Kissell's notebook, for God's sake and he has everyone under his watch well versed in "The Way" in the clubhouse, in the field, in the dugout and at the plate. He utilizes analytics to gain advantages. He defers to his staff's expertise, encouraging their in-game suggestions, their strategic moves. We'll see how the rest of the season plays out. If the Cardinals make it to October, Shildt is a shoo-in to be the next manager. Even if they don't, he's Mozeliak's man with Mozeliak's stamp of approval.

There are some business moves I haven't agreed with during Mozeliak's time in the front office - failure to sign Albert Pujols to a long-term deal in 2006 when he and others knew Pujols was on course to become a sure first ballot Hall of Famer. His hire of Matheny as manager over Terry Francona or Jose Oquendo. His inexplicable reluctance to sign native St. Louisan, Missouri product and 3-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, who all but begged to come home at a discount or going on the cheap in the decision to not pursue and sign free agent outfielder J.D. Martinez in a whatever-it-takes to get a deal done. Now, I like Dexter Fowler but fans and players everywhere know the huge impact that Martinez has made in a Red Sox uniform.

John Mozeliak has to get this one right. He's sitting 0-for-4. Shildt has brought excitement back to the ballpark, back to a moribund, lack luster team that once upon a time was going no where fast. The decision to remove Matheny and install Shildt may have come some 20-25 games too late, but if the Cardinals are to resume their winning tradition with someone at the helm who's well versed in the Cardinal Way - talks it, walks it, breathes it, lives it - Mike Shildt personifies all of those qualities moving forward and should be the "guy" on the dugout steps Opening Day, 2019.

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