When a catcher begins managing

My favorite baseball position has always been the catcher. The catcher is the one man that sees everything on the field. He sets the tempo for the whole game. He is the only one that sees every pitcher on the team, starters and relievers. He also knows every batter on the opposing team. When a hall-of-fame bound catcher becomes a manager within five years of retiring from the game, the odds for and against him are huge.

Mike Matheny is the prodigal son for the Cardinals. Once he retired from baseball, he knocked around St. Louis hanging out with the front office people. He spent every spring training in Florida helping the staff out with the pitchers. He scouted players for the Cardinals. Basically, he never really left the organization. So when LaRussa announced his retirement, no one was surprised when Matheny's name was thrown into the mix as his replacement. His age and lack of managing experience did not concern the fan base nor the front office.

2012 was Matheny's inaugural year as a MLB manager. He is cutting his teeth in the Big Show in one of the toughest baseball towns. He managed the Cardinals to the postseason in his first year. Some gave him that because he basically still had the team that LaRussa had put together. Minus one notable Albert Pujols.

2013 Matheny has made the St Louis Cardinals his team. The only coach remaining from LaRussa's days in Oquendo at 3rd. Mark McGuire and Dave Duncan are both gone. McGuire, the batting coach replace by Bengie Molina (former Ranger) another hall-of-fame bound catcher. The beginning of the season was a difficult one for the Cardinals bullpen. They couldn't seem to catch a break and the veteran pitchers began imploding in every game, forcing the starters to pitch very deep into the games, including pitching full games. While this is awesome for individual accomplishments, it is not good for the long haul.

This is where we began to see the mastery of the young catcher-turned-manager. He has utilized the farm teams in Memphis and Springfield unlike any other manager I have seen in the last decade. The starting pitching crew suffered a setback when Garcia suddenly required surgery, ending his season. Westbrook has been on the Disabled List (DL) due to a strained elbow. Matheny began maneuvering the pitching staff from the farms to St. Louis on a day-to-day basis. This team has the most number of rookies starting their first MLB game this season and we are only in the third month.

The chess game of baseball is more fun to watch, not knowing who will be pitching or when.