Jon Hamm to replace Mike Matheny as St. Louis Cardinals manager

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It was announced today that the St. Louis Cardinals were hiring Jon Hamm to replace Mike Matheny as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

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Hamm is set to become the 64th manager since the St. Louis Cardinals were founded in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings.

Hamm has portrayed advertising executive Don Draper on Mad Men since the AMC series premiered on July 19, 2007. With the last half of the seventh and final season airing in 2015, Hamm had been looking for a new role to take on. The opportunity with the Cardinals could not have come at a better time for the actor.

May 11, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Motion picture Actor Jon Hamm reacts on the set of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball pre-game show as the Pittsburgh Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

“I’m very excited to be taking on this new responsibility,” Hamm said in a statement released by the Cardinals. “What do you want me to say? I’m disappointed that the Cardinals decided to replace Mike Matheny but if they had to go with somebody with zero managerial experience, I’m happy that it was me and not the Sklar Brothers. Let’s not kid ourselves here, this is one of those jobs that everybody wants to have but only so few can make their dream a reality. Today, the Cardinals made my dream a reality and I won’t let the city of St. Louis or Cardinal Nation down.”

The news quickly made its way around the baseball world and Redbird Rants was quick to get a comment from Baseball Tonight anchor Karl Ravech.

“Well, having set on the set and co-starred in a movie,” Ravech told Redbird Rants. “I was a co-star that movie with him in Million Dollar Arm. I had a cameo for about 30 seconds so I consider myself a co-star of a movie with him. If I would find myself to be completely ill-equipped to be a manager of the Cardinals, I’m not sure that Hamm is any more equipped than his high school days behind home plate or now his beer-league baseball behind home plate. While he can kind of see the game from a different perspective, if he were to be named manager, the best thing he would do would be to sit on the bench and let Yadier Molina run the team. That would be my advice to Johnny.”

From his work on Mad Men to his work in films, Hamm has displayed his range in acting from comedy to drama. It’s unfortunate that Cardinal Nation won’t be able to see him argue with the umpires in the same way that Earl Weaver and Bobby Cox did in the days before instant replay.

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