St. Louis Cardinals: Mike “Maytag Repairman” Matheny

St. Louis Cardinals millennial fans are saying “Maytag Repairman,” WTH? He is a commercial character for Maytag appliances introduced in 1967. He is “the loneliest guy in town” because Maytag appliances are so dependable they seldom need repair…

Baseball teams, alas, DO often need repair. That is when “the manager” becomes “the loneliest guy in town.” The original Maytag Repairman was Jesse White who played “Cagey Calhoun” on The Ann Southern Show. He was later replaced by Gordon Jump a/k/a “Mr. Carlson” from WKRP In Cincinnati. The cool stuff a St. Louis Cardinals fan learns at Redbird Rants.com… Huh?

Mike Matheny is “under the gun” for the Cardinals’ uninspiring anemic offense these days. You and Bill DeWitt and John Mozeliak all know it. Mike Matheny knows it. Mrs Matheny and their children know it.

Q: What does Mike Matheny have in common with Whitey Herzog – Jim Leyland – Joe Torre – Sparky Anderson – Terry Francona – Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa?

A: They all have career W-Ls records over .500.

At .565, Mathey’s W-L % is higher than all of them. Cox is second at .555

Q: What does Matheny NOT have in common with all those accomplished baseball men?

A: They were all fired at least once. Matheny has not been fired… yet.

I have done sports commentaries for 18+ years. At no time during those 18+ years have I NOT had a coach/manager on “The Hot Seat” with one or more of the teams I report on. Often two or more concurrently.

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Social media pervades our lives. All it takes is one galoot in soiled underwear in his mamma’s basement to tweet “Bill Belichick / Gregg Popovich / Nick Saban is an idiot” and the Death Watch begins. If I “had a nickel” for every Coach Death Watch I have covered…

A “benefit” of being a Head Coach/Manager is the 24/7 target on your back. They all know that… it is easier to fire the coach than flush the roster.

The inside joke in college football and The NFL is the “coordinator” position was created to buy an embattled coach an extra year. When the angry fan mob is storming the castle… throw them a coordinator as a human sacrifice. Meanwhile the head coach tells his agent to “update my resume”.

In MLB, the pitching coach is pretty much always “the first to go.” With our St. Louis Cardinals these days the starting rotation is the one bright spot. Middle relief and pretty much the entire batting order not named Yadier Molina or Jedd Gyorko is treading water.

This season is a third over. Despite blah, blah, and blah… The St. Louis Cardinals are still very much in contention in the NL-Central. So, what will bring a smile to ever-stoic Mike Matheny’s face?

Mike Matheny SMILE?  Yeah, right.  That is probably asking for too much?

Next: What's ahead for Cardinals in June?

What do YOU think? Let’s hear your opinion. It doesn’t have to make sense. Mine often don’t.