An emotional Mike Shildt, former St. Louis Cardinals manager, speaks with USA Today about his tragic experience of being fired after the end of their 2021 season.
As the Cardinals are excited to start their new baseball season after Albert Pujols, a St. Louis fan-favorite signs a new contact with his team, Mike Shildt, in an interview with USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale, discusses how hard it was leaving the Cardinals. Since being fired, he has signed with the Padres as a player development consultant for the new baseball season this year, but despite the change in scenery, Shildt is still heartbroken.
After three full seasons as manager, three consecutive postseasons, and the 2019 National League Manager of the Year Award, Mike Shildt has contributed lots of time, energy, and effort to the Cardinals. He reflects on this throughout his interview with USA Today.
He says, “I have a broken heart. It still hurts. It hurts bad. When it first happened, I broke down. I was inconsolable. I got better as time went on. Then I got down here, put on the Padres uniform, and it hit me. Now, it just hit me again.
“I love that organization, gave it everything I had for 18 years,’’ Shildt said. “We make the playoffs after they hadn’t been there for three years. We get back to the standards of the Cardinals. We’re set up to really go. The clean style of play, the culture, everything is in place. And you get removed from it.
“It feels like it was stolen away from me.”
In regretful reflection, Shildt wonders what’s next for him as interim third-baseman coach and player development consultant
While many are left wondering why Mike Shildt got fired in the first place, some speculate it was because of Shildt’s “philosophical difference” with John Mozeliak, president of operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, and the baseball operations department.
“These people have been welcoming and great. When I put on this Padre uniform for the first time, I just sat there, processing that I wasn’t putting on a Cardinals uniform any more. I just never thought I would not be a Cardinal. It left me shattered. But time heals, to some degree,” Shildt concludes. “It’s just that I love those guys with all of my heart, and it hurts knowing I can’t be with them.’’
