Mike Matheny's Statement on Taveras

[WorkingAllTheTime]

I am a Cardinal fan and a very long time baseball fan. I have to admit that, as a younger, less experienced manager, Matheny does some things that drive this old man nuts. But, man,do I respect how Matheny's players are fiercely loyal to him and, based upon his official statement regarding the death of Oscar Taveras, I now get why.

 

The last paragraph, in particular, is just.... beautiful.

 

http://m.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article/99777398/mike-matheny-statement-on-oscar-taveras

[laughedatbytime]

I am a Cardinal fan and a very long time baseball fan. I have to admit that, as a younger, less experienced manager, Matheny does some things that drive this old man nuts. But, man,do I respect how Matheny's players are fiercely loyal to him and, based upon his official statement regarding the death of Oscar Taveras, I now get why.

 

The last paragraph, in particular, is just.... beautiful.

 

http://m.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article/99777398/mike-matheny-statement-on-oscar-taveras

Well said, what a horrible horrible loss...I couldn't believe the news.

 

 

Condolences to the family and the Cardinal organization. This sucks.

[laughedatbytime]

Damn. Taveras apparently had a BAC of at least .2 (probably .25) when he was killed.

 

Alcohol played a big role in the car crash that killed Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend on Oct. 26, according to a report from The Associated Press.

 

The 22-year-old Taveras apparently had a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit at the time of the wreck.

 

Tessie Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office in the Dominican Republic, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that toxicology reports showed Taveras had a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit when he lost control of his car Oct. 26 on a highway in Puerto Plata.

 

The AP story did not say what the legal limit is in the Dominican Republic, but the World Health Organization lists the limit as 0.05 for the general population (as of 2012).

 

The accident took place as Taveras and Edilia Arvelo were driving from Jamao to his hometown of Sosua on the Atlantic Coast of the Dominican Republic.

 

Taveras was a top prospect in the Cardinals organization ever since he signed with the club as an amateur free agent in 2008. He appeared in 80 games this season with the Cardinals, hitting three home runs, driving in 22 runs and batting .239.

[troutman]

http://mikematheny.com/book-matheny-manifesto

 

Has any one read his book?

 

Looks interesting.

[WorkingAllTheTime]

Damn. Taveras apparently had a BAC of at least .2 (probably .25) when he was killed.

 

Alcohol played a big role in the car crash that killed Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend on Oct. 26, according to a report from The Associated Press.

 

The 22-year-old Taveras apparently had a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit at the time of the wreck.

 

Tessie Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office in the Dominican Republic, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that toxicology reports showed Taveras had a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit when he lost control of his car Oct. 26 on a highway in Puerto Plata.

 

The AP story did not say what the legal limit is in the Dominican Republic, but the World Health Organization lists the limit as 0.05 for the general population (as of 2012).

 

The accident took place as Taveras and Edilia Arvelo were driving from Jamao to his hometown of Sosua on the Atlantic Coast of the Dominican Republic.

 

Taveras was a top prospect in the Cardinals organization ever since he signed with the club as an amateur free agent in 2008. He appeared in 80 games this season with the Cardinals, hitting three home runs, driving in 22 runs and batting .239.

 

Late getting back to this. Yes. The Cardinal organization has two of these now. First Josh Hancock. Now Oscar Taveras. The Cardinals are hardly the only organization that has a problem with two young players drinking and driving, but it is also clearly an issue for the franchise. They need to do something meaningful and now.

 

Youth is indeed wasted on the young.

[WorkingAllTheTime]

http://mikematheny.c...theny-manifesto

 

Has any one read his book?

 

Looks interesting.

 

I read the initial Manifesto but not the book. Matheny has his head on straight. He's a bit like Kurt Warner in that he can be a little too in your face on faith and doing the right thing, but it comes from a good place. I know a guy who played with Kurt in the league and says he is genuinely the best person he could have ever played with. I hear Cardinal players, former and current, say the same thing about Matheny.

[troutman]

http://mikematheny.c...theny-manifesto

 

Has any one read his book?

 

Looks interesting.

 

I read the initial Manifesto but not the book. Matheny has his head on straight. He's a bit like Kurt Warner in that he can be a little too in your face on faith and doing the right thing, but it comes from a good place. I know a guy who played with Kurt in the league and says he is genuinely the best person he could have ever played with. I hear Cardinal players, former and current, say the same thing about Matheny.

 

Don't know much about him,

 

Not even a Cardinals fan but I like his tough love approach. I will probably read the book.

[WorkingAllTheTime]

An interesting follow up....

 

Earlier this week, the Cardinals invited former NHLer Rob Ramage to camp. Ramage wore the Blue Note for a few years (and during some beloved years for long time St. Louis hockey fans), but is, unfortunately, more famous for being the impaired driver in an accident that killed fellow NHLer Keith Magnuson... and for having served jail time for it.

 

Ramage was clearly there to talk about his experience in the context of Taveras (and to a lesser degree, the death of pitcher Josh Hancock in 2007 - although very few Cardinal players on the roster today were around when Hancock drove, drunk, into the back of a truck on a St. Louis highway).

 

The Cardinals are certainly not the only team with this kind of problem. As a Cardinal fan, I will be the first to say they are also a bit late in getting around to dealing with it. But I am going to credit Matheny, again, for this. LaRussa appeared to do little to nothing following Hancock (but, let's be honest, he had little credibility after being picked up for being nearly passed out drunk in an intersection during Spring Training not long before Hancock died). TLR was a great manager, but he's not the man Matheny seems to be, at least in this regard.