List of St. Louis Cardinals managers

St. Louis Cardinals

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The St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball franchise based in St. Louis, Missouri, compete in the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to entering the NL in 1892, they were also a member of the American Association (AA) from 1882 to 1891. They have won 11 World Series titles as an NL team, one pre-World Series championship and tied another against the NL. Since 1900, the team has been known as the Cardinals. They were originally named the Perfectos. Baseball teams like St. Louis employ a manager to make on-field decisions for the team during the game, similar to the head coach position of other sports. A number of coaches report to the manager, including the bench coach, first and third base coaches, and pitching and hitting coaches, among other coaches and instructors. Mike Matheny, a former catcher for the Cardinals from 2000 to 2004, was the manager from 2012-2018, when he was relieved following a series of disputes, including allegations that he would not speak with Dexter Fowler. He was signed through 2017 and extended to the 2018 season when he was fired. The Cardinals hired bench coach Mike Shildt as interim manager.

Matheny is one of 63 total individuals who have managed the Cardinals, more than any other Major League franchise. Between 1882 and 1918 – 37 total seasons – 37 different managers stayed the helm. Ned Cuthbert became the first manager of the then-Brown Stockings in 1882, serving for one season. Also an outfielder for a former St. Louis Brown Stockings club, he was directly responsible for bringing professional baseball back to St. Louis after a game-fixing scandal expelled the earlier team from the NL in 1877. He rallied a barnstorming team that attracted the attention of eventual owner Chris von der Ahe, who directly negotiated for the team to be a charter member of a new league, the AA, in 1882. Charles Comiskey was the first manager in franchise history to hold the position for multiple seasons. He also owns the highest career winning percentage in franchise history at .673, four American Association pennants (18851888) and one interleague championship (before the official World Series existed). He also held the record for most career wins in team history with from 1884 to 1945 (563 total) and games managed (852) until 1924. However, von der Ahe changed managers more than any other owner in team history – a total of 27 in 19 season oversaw the team on the field. After the Robison era began, stability marginally improved: nine managers in 20 years from 1899 to 1918. Jack McCloskey, Roger Bresnahan, and Miller Huggins each managed three or more seasons from 1906 to 1917, becoming the first group to manage multiple seasons in succession.

Branch Rickey, known mainly as a general manager, surpassed Comiskey's record for games managed in 1924, totaling 947 in seven seasons. His replacement, Rogers Hornsby – also the second baseman who won two Triple Crowns and six consecutive batting titles – finally guided the Cardinals to their first modern World Series championship against the formidable New York Yankees, their first interleague championship in exactly 40 years. Sam Breadon, the Cardinals' owner, also frequently changed managers (although Frankie Frisch and Gabby Street both managed at least five seasons and won one World Series title apiece in the 1930s out of nine total managers in 30 seasons) until settling on Hall of Famer Billy Southworth from 1940 to 1945.

Southworth set new team records for games managed (981), wins (620) and World Series championships (two). His Cardinals teams won 105 or more games each year from 1942 to 1944, winning the NL pennants in each of those three seasons. His .642 winning percentage is second-highest in team history, and the highest since the Cardinals joined the National League. Southworth was also awarded the Sporting News Manager of the Year Award in 1941 and 1942. Starting in 1953 with the Gussie Busch/Anheuser-Busch era, thirteen managers captained the club in 43 seasons. After Southworth, Eddie Dyer, Eddie Stanky, Fred Hutchinson and Johnny Keane also each took home a Sporting News Manager of the Year award. Keane's 1964 team that year's World Series. Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst took over from 1965 to 1977 and won one World Series and two NL pennants. Schoendienst then broke Southworth's team records for games (1,999 total) and wins (1,041). He also held records of 14 seasons managed and 955 losses.

In the 1980s, Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog's style of play known as Whiteyball pushed the Cardinals to three NL pennants and a World Series championship in 1982. He was named the Sporting News Sportsman of the Year and Manager of the Year in 1982. In 1990, Joe Torre took over and Tony La Russa succeeded him when the William DeWitt, Jr. ownership – still the current ownership – commenced in 1996. La Russa finished with the longest tenure in franchise history (16 seasons), and leads Cardinals managers in wins (1,408), losses (1,182), playoff appearances (nine) and is tied for most World Series championships (two). He also won three NL pennants. Matheny took over from La Russa. With DeWitt ‘s era, the Cardinals have seen their greatest period of managerial stability with just two managers.

Besides La Russa, eight Cardinals managers have won a modern World Series: Hornsby, Frisch, Street, Dyer, Southworth, Keane, Schoendienst and Herzog; Southworth and La Russa are the only ones to win two each. Comiskey won one pre-World Series title and tied for another. Cardinals managers inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame include Comiskey, Tommy McCarthy, Roger Connor, Kid Nichols, Bresnahan, Huggins, Rickey, Hornsby, Bill McKechnie, Southworth, Frisch, Schoendienst, Herzog, Torre and La Russa.

Table key

# Ordinal number in the succession of managers
G Regular season games managed (may not equal sum of wins and losses due to tie games)
W Regular season wins
L Regular season losses
Win% Winning percentage
PA Postseason appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the postseason
PW Postseason wins
PL Postseason losses
LC League championships: number of League championships, or pennants, achieved by the manager
WS World Series Championships: number of World Series championships achieved by the manager
Awards Awarded MVP (V) as a player-manager, MLB Manager of the Year (given annually since 1983) (M), and The Sporting News Sportsman of the Year (awarded annually since 1968) (S) and The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award (awarded annually since 1936) (Y) while managing for the Cardinals.
Ref Reference(s)
* Also a player for the Cardinals
Former MLB All-Star
§ Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Cardinal
†, ‡ Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame primarily as a player (†) or as a manager and/or an executive (‡)

Table of managers

Statistics current through 2022

# Manager Seasons G W L Win% PA PW PL LC WS Awards Ref
1 Ned Cuthbert * 1882 80 37 43 .463
2 Ted Sullivan 1883 79 53 26 .671
3 Charles Comiskey *‡ 1883, 18841889,
1891
852 563 273 .673 4 16 21 4
4 Jimmy Williams 1884 85 51 33 .607
5 Tommy McCarthy *† 1890 27 15 12 .571
6 John Kerins * 1890 17 9 8 .529
7 Chief Roseman * 1890 15 7 8 .467
8 Count Campau * 1890 42 27 14 .659
9 Joe Gerhardt * 1890 38 20 16 .556
10 Jack Glasscock * 1892 4 1 3 .250
11 Cub Stricker * 1892 23 6 17 .261
12 Jack Crooks * 1892 62 27 33 .450
13 George Gore * 1892 16 6 9 .400
14 Bob Caruthers * 1892 50 16 32 .333
15 Bill Watkins 1893 135 57 75 .432
16 Doggie Miller * 1894 133 56 76 .424
17 Al Buckenberger 1895 50 16 34 .320
18 Chris von der Ahe 1895, 1896, 1897 17 3 14 .176
19 Joe Quinn * 1895 40 11 28 .282
20 Lew Phelan 1895 45 11 30 .268
21 Harry Diddlebock 1896 17 7 10 .412
22 Arlie Latham * 1896 3 0 3 .000
23 Roger Connor *† 1896 46 8 37 .178
24 Tommy Dowd * 1896–1897 92 31 60 .341
25 Hugh Nicol * 1897 40 8 32 .200
26 Bill Hallman * 1897 50 13 36 .265
27 Tim Hurst 1898 154 39 111 .260
28 Patsy Tebeau * 18991900 247 126 117 .519
29 Louie Heilbroner 1900 50 23 25 .479
30 Patsy Donovan * 19011903 421 175 236 .426
31 Kid Nichols *† 19041905 169 80 88 .476
32 Jimmy Burke * 1905 90 34 56 .378
33 Stanley Robison 1905 50 19 31 .380
34 John McCloskey 19061908 463 153 304 .335
35 Roger Bresnahan *† 19091912 618 255 352 .420
36 Miller Huggins *‡ 19131917 774 346 415 .455
37 Jack Hendricks 1918 133 51 78 .395
38 Branch Rickey 19191925 947 458 485 .486
39 Rogers Hornsby *†§ 1925–1926 271 153 116 .569 1 4 3 1 1 V
40 Bob O'Farrell * 1927 153 92 61 .601 V
41 Bill McKechnie 19281929 217 129 88 .594 1 0 4 1 0 ––
42 Billy Southworth *ठ1929, 19401945 981 680 346 .642 3 9 7 3 2 Y (2)
43 Gabby Street * 1929–1933 556 312 242 .563 2 6 7 2 1 ––
44 Frankie Frisch *†§ 1933–1938 822 458 354 .564 1 4 3 1 1 ––
45 Mike González * 1938, 1940 23 9 13 .409
46 Ray Blades * 1939–1940 194 106 85 .555
47 Eddie Dyer * 19461950 777 446 325 .578 1 4 3 1 1 Y
48 Marty Marion * 1951 155 81 73 .526
49 Eddie Stanky * 19521955 501 260 238 .522 Y
50 Harry Walker * 1955 118 51 67 .432
51 Fred Hutchinson 19561958 434 232 220 .513
52 Stan Hack 1958 10 3 7 .300
53 Solly Hemus * 19591961 384 190 192 .497
54 Johnny Keane 1961–1964 567 317 249 .560 1 4 3 1 1 Y
55 Red Schoendienst *†§ 19651976, 1980,
1990
1,999 1,041 955 .522 2 7 7 2 1 ––
56 Vern Rapp 19771978 179 89 90 .497
57 Jack Krol 1978, 1980 3 1 2 .500
58 Ken Boyer * 1978–1980 357 166 190 .466
59 Whitey Herzog ‡§ 1980–1990 1,553 822 728 .530 3 21 16 3 1 S, Y, M
60 Joe Torre *∂‡ 1990–1995 706 351 354 .498
61 Mike Jorgensen * 1995 96 42 54 .438
62 Tony La Russa 19962011 2,591 1,408 1,182 .544 9 50 42 3 2 M
63 Mike Matheny * 20122018 1074 591 474 .555 3 21 22 1 0
64 Mike Shildt 20182021 451 252 199 .559 3 4 9 M
65 Oliver Marmol 2022–present 130 75 55 .577
AA totals (18821891) 1,233 780 432 .644 4 16 21 4 1 ––
NL (1892–1919) 4,128 1,632 2,425 .402 0 0 0 0 0 ––
NL (1920–1952) 5,112 2,898 2,171 .572 9 27 27 9 6 ––
NL (1953–1989) 5,867 3,038 2,814 .519 6 32 26 6 3 ––
NL (1990–present) 4,469 2,391 2,076 .535 12 70 61 4 2 ––
NL totals (1892–present) 19,576 9,959 9,486 .512 27 129 114 19 11 ––
All-time totals 20,809 10,739 9,918 .520 31 145 135 23 12 ––

This page was last updated at 2022-09-05 03:18 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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