On Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals interviewed former catcher Mike Matheny to possibly replace the recently retired Tony La Russa as the manager of the club. Matheny has the least managerial experience of any known candidates for the position, something he referred to as "the elephant that walked in with me" to the interview, but it turns out it might not be that big of a deal to the Cards' front office:
"That was defused right away. They made it clear that this is a leadership position and that what they were looking for to fill the role is a leader," Matheny said, according to the Post-Dispatch. "Yes, there are the baseball things and the knowledge of baseball, but we talked a lot about the characteristics that are necessary to be a leader at this level and a leader of that clubhouse."
Matheny was known as a good clubhouse leader as a player with the Cardinals from 2000-2004, when he won three gold gloves and participated in four playoff runs. In fact, he was so respected by La Russa himself that the managerial legend once described Matheny as the only player he would let marry one of his daughters.
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