MLB: St Louis Cardinals part ways with manager Mike Shildt

The Major League Baseball side St Louis Cardinals have fired
team manager Mike Shildt on Thursday over what they called philosophical
differences within the organization, just one week after St. Louis lost to the
Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League wild-card game.

Cardinals president John Mozeliak said the firing was
“something that popped up recently,” but he declined to expand on
what he called “philosophical differences,” according to a report by
the Associated Press.

Mozeliak did point out that Shildt was heading into the
final year of his contract but also clarified that it was not the sole reason
for them to be parting ways with him, the Associated Press report added.

Shildt replaced Mike Matheny, who is the current manager of
the Kansas City Royals, on an interim basis in August 2018. He then took over
the permanent job the following season in 2019. The Cardinals won 91 games that
season, earning Shildt the National League manager of the year award, and
advanced to the NL Championship Series before getting swept by the Washington
Nationals.

The Cardinals went 30-28 during the pandemic-shortened 2020
season, losing the wild-card game to the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals then rode
on a franchise-record 17-game winning streak to reach the wild-card game again
this season, only to lose it once more against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Before managing the Cardinals’ major league team, Shildt was the manager of the Cardinals AA affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals, where he was promoted in 2011. He then joined the team’s AAA affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, in 2015. He joined the major league coaching staff in 2017 and then became the manager in 2018.