THE HITTING COACH QUANDARY FOR ST. LOUIS (1 of 3) - Some Objections Answered

Saturday, October 10, came as a disappointing day for Cardinal Nation; many of us watched in disbelief as the last few weeks of the season sputtered and surceased to a disheartening halt. Let’s take a brief look at the second half of the season: already contenders for National League Central Division Champions, the acquisitions of Mark DeRosa and Matt Holiday added some much needed “pop” to the Cardinal’s lineup. Now, both the defensive and offensive aspects of the team created a bright outlook for the Redbird’s future. The Cardinals ran away with the division title, annihilating the second place Cubs by 7.5 games, and had their sights set on a potential World Series victory. The end of the regular season, however, was demoralizing to say the least; the Cardinal’s previously dominant top starters had lost their last few starts, and key hitters had sunk to an abyss of incurable slumps. It was not just the fact that the Cardinal’s didn’t win the World Series, but that their post-season ambitions were squelched in three short games. This unexpected and abrupt end to the season led to many questions being asked of the disappointing loss and what the future of next year’s team might be.

Among these questions were inquiries about the underperforming offense and the increasingly notorious question about the prospective coaching staff, “Will Dave Duncan choose to return after what happened to his son?” and “Will Tony La Russa return for the 2010 season?” The answer to both questions came on October 26, when Duncan and La Russa announced their plans to stay with the club for 2010. Packaged with these relieving answers, however, was the hiring of Mark McGwire.

The ineffective level of offense that led to the conclusion of the Cardinal’s season brought forth questions about the integrity of the 2010 Cardinal lineup, and in order to appease the disconcerted fan base and public, former hitting coach Hal McRae was handed the pink slip. When an important facet of a team underperforms, it is often that somebody needs to take the blame, and a member(s) of a coaching staff is fired; in the case of a lack of productive hitting, the fall guy happened to be the hitting coach. Sometimes change does not have a fundamentally sound foundation, and is just made for the sake of change, and for the restoration of the public’s confidence; the front office needs to confront questions posed by media, and the CEO needs to make sure that the season ticket holders (and their revenue) return.

This challenge was met head-on by the appointment of Mark McGwire to the position of hitting coach, and posed a whole new set of inquisitions.

Albert Pujols is only one of the many members of the St. Louis Cardinals that will have to continue to perform on offense if the Cardinals want to win in 2010.