ST. LOUIS, MO – The St. Louis Cardinals have removed the interim tag and have made Mike Shildt their manager with a multi-year deal.
The team made the decision at a press conference at Busch Stadium Tuesday afternoon with Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr., Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak, Cardinals GM Michael Girsch and Shildt present.
The announcement comes as Shildt has lead the Cardinals to a 26-12 record and brought the team back into playoff contention. As of Tuesday, August 28, the Cardinals are in first place in the NL Wild Card and 4.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
The Cardinals fired former manager Mike Matheny, who lead the team to a National League pennant in 2013 and NL Central division titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015, after a slow start before the All-Star break. Matheny was relieved of his duties on July 14 after an 8-2 loss to the last place Cincinnati Reds and Schildt was named interim manager the day after.
Shildt, a long time member of the Cardinals organization, caught the attention of the Cardinals front office when he managed their rookie league team in Johnson City, Tennessee. He went 37-30 in his first year, then went 42-34 the next year and 45-23 after that. He made a three-year stop at Double-A before managing two seasons in Triple-A Memphis.
He quickly earned a reputation with the front office as a highly adaptable teacher in the lower levels and was promoted to the big league club in 2017. Shildt began the 2018 season serving as Mike Mathney’s bench coach.
Mike Shildt’s first game as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals will be Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 7:15 p.m.
