Wait, what? You hired who?

We interrupt your regularly scheduled football coverage to bring you thoughts and news on the hometown Cardinals hiring Mike Matheny to replace Tony LaRussa. That's right, they hired this guy

I don't know much about Mike Matheny's managerial skills, other than he coached his kids 13 year old team and was a roving instructor for the Cardinals minor league teams. I do know that Mike Matheny played a good catcher for 4 years here in St. Louis and overall he seems like a really nice guy. However is a nice guy what the Cardinals need? Especially a nice guy who you have already hamstrung with a 2 year contract (team option for third) so if things aren't going well, you have a rookie manager who in addition to learning on the job is also looking over his shoulder. Not necessarily the best recipe for success that I've ever heard of. They passed on Sandberg, their own AAA manager, Little Mac Joe McEwing, and Terry Francona. The Francona issue doesn't matter because he is waiting for his man friend Theo to call him to come coach the Cubs. But their is one name that a lot of people were hoping would get the job.

The Secret Weapon. It's safe to say that most Cardinal fans wanted a little more Oquendo in their lives. However this is the fourth managerial job that Jose has applied for, and the fourth time he has struck out. I don't buy the "his English isn't good enough" excuse that people use. The guy's lived in America for 30 years, I'm sure he picked up a few key phrases. Plus, this guy has a job, and he speaks English about as well as I speak Mandarin. (I don't speak Mandarin)

I think it's safe to say there is just some reason Oquendo can't get a top job, and I don't think we will ever know. The only thing the press conference was really missing today was good honest quotes from the owner and GM. When Bill Dewitt Jr. was asked about hiring Matheny he gave a long rambling response. The correct response by him would have been

"Are you fucking kidding me right now? I just made so much money off of the World Series I'm still swimming around my vault like Scrooge McDuck! I'm not even real sure who the hell Mike Matheny is."