On Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt enjoyed his first time at the podium at the Winter Warm-up as the skipper. He also didn't waste any time talking about the many ways he enjoys St. Louis.
After Chicago Cubs' slugger Kris Bryant referred to St. Louis as "boring," several Cardinals have taken to the media, social or spoken, to defend the city. Going into his media session today, Shildt had little idea what was said, but quickly downloaded the information and produced an opinion, the same thing he's done with several rosters over the past decade.
When I asked about Yadier Molina's response to Bryant on Instagram, Shildt was quick to support his catcher. "I appreciated that on a lot of levels. I support his comments completely. I don't know Kris that way and he's entitled to his opinion," Shildt said. "The way I look at is, in a real perspective, I went to the Stan Musial Award dinner, and Stan seemed to find this to be a nice place to make a home. I saw Ozzie Smith, another St. Louisian, who did some charitable work here."
Shildt didn't stop listing off former Cardinals who have went out of their way to remain relevant in the St. Louis region. "Albert (Pujols) still feels inclined to come back. Matt Holliday will be here Monday. I look forward to bumping into Whitey (Herzog). Lou Brock, proud St. Louisian."
On Saturday night, Shildt went to dinner and enjoyed some conversation with Paul Goldschmidt and his wife, Amy, at Dominic's, and admitted he was "far from bored." On Monday night, he will have dinner with Jim Edmonds, who moved here from sunny California.
At the end of it, Shildt came back to the man who truly sparked the fire. "I support my catcher." He then paused for a second or two, and then finished with "Yadi."
Later in the conversation, I asked him about what made Molina so dynamic and able to starve off the hands of Father Time.
"A desire to compete that is almost unparalleled. This guy loved competition," Shildt said.
He compared Molina's passion and dedication to Jose Oquendo's work.
"There's no coincidence that him and Jose are so close. They're kindred spirits in just how much they love the game. They are both baseball guys," Shildt said.
With Molina, it's his ability to share his experience.
"You see him at the complex, putting in the time, and sharing his knowledge. He's the perfect package of competition, talent, and love," Shildt said.
In hockey, teams have captains, players that wear a "C" patch on their jersey. When I asked Shildt if Molina was the captain of the Cardinals, he agreed and even coined a phrase.
"He's the Yadfather."
Shildt dished on other parts of the team, including the lineup shuffle that the media loves to play.
"You guys think about it more than I do," Shildt half-jokingly admitted.
He mentioned "evolving" several times throughout his conversation, talking about keeping things light in the clubhouse yet maintaining a serious work ethic at the same time.
What you get with Shildt is conviction, and it's effortless. Sometimes, managers, coaches, and players can force words and try to become something different when breaking down a particular thought. Shildt just stands there, registers and deals.
He didn't hesitate to defend and support Molina's comments and took an easy route to describe how impactful his catcher can be for this team and future teams.
After all, Shildt and Molina are ruggedly old school, students of the game effortlessly and endlessly finding new ways to be better than the other guys.
Those other guys include Kris Bryant and the Cubs.
Here's one promise: 2019 will be the opposite of boring.
