(FTD, St. Louis)
The St. Louis Cardinal legend has signed a three-year contract to serve as the team's hitting coach. McGwire who filled the same role from (2009-2012) was on the 2011 Championship coaching staff. He comes back to the Cardinals after stints with both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
He still owns many hitting records including highest career OPS, OPS+, and slugging in his four years. His magical 70 Homerun single-season record is still talked about today. A portion of Interstate 70 in Missouri in St. Louis and near Busch Stadium was named "Mark McGwire Highway" to honor his 70 home run achievement, along with his various good works for the city. In May 2010, St. Louis politicians succeeded in passing a state bill to change the name of "Mark McGwire Highway", a 5-mile stretch of Interstate 70, to "Mark Twain Highway". McGwire will now be the third hitting coach of the 2020 season for the Cardinals.
He's replacing Tony Pena Sr. who filled in for Jeff Albert after just 16 games. While the averages improved the decline in run production across the roster was glaring. The team was averaging just over 4 runs a game (437 in 98 games), which ranked at the bottom of the National League. "We thank Tony for his tutelage he was able to provide during the course of this season. We just felt this was an opportunity we didn't want to pass up. Mark is a guy that obviously has unbelievable history here. He can come right in and get to work. I know the guys were fired up when we gave them the news." said Cardinals GM.
It's no secret that the offense has been the biggest issue within the organization. The single focal point of the struggle has been the lack of production in the power department. Also, some rumblings were being rumored about the chemistry with the Personality of Tony Pena. The hope is that McGwire can get things going to finish 2020, and primed for the influx of young talented prospects coming in the near future. It's something McGwire is looking forward to. "I can't wait to put that jersey on again. It'll be fun to get those goosebumps again. This decision was an easy one to make when Jonathan (Ferguson) reached out to me. I think the current roster is talented, and the guys coming are also skilled. It's going to be a blast." said McGwire.
