Cardinals announced Thursday that Matt Holliday He resigned as bench coach for the team. His place will be replaced by Joe McEwing, who has spent the past 15 years on the White Sox’ coaching staff. It’s a surprising announcement considering that Holiday He was hired just for this position Again in early November. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and The Athletic’s Katie Woo both point out that Holiday’s decision came down to a matter of wanting to spend more time with his family (Twitter links).
Holiday, who turns 43 this weekend, played in the major leagues from 2004 to 2018, wearing a Cardinals uniform for much of that time. It led to an exciting return to the franchise when it was reported in November that he would take over the bench coach job that was left vacant when Skip the Shoemaker He left to become the Marlins’ manager.
However, with spring training now approaching, Holiday appears to have had a change of heart. Instead of returning to the MLB life of constantly on the move from roughly January/February through October/November, he will choose a less nomadic path and spend more time with his family. Holiday has four children with the eldest of the four being, Jackson Holidayhaving just been selected by the Orioles with the first overall pick in the 2022 draft.
As for McEwing, 50, he spent time with the Cardinals as a player in 1998 and 1999. He has since moved on to coaching, starting in the minor leagues for the White Sox system in 2008. He jumped to the big league team for the 2012 season, and has spent some time As the third base coach and bench coach until 2022.
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