Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals were hit with surprising news on Thursday morning when it was announced that former franchise cornerstone Matt Holliday had resigned from his post as the team’s bench coach, just two months after being hired to replace Skip Schumaker in the role.
To replace Holliday after his sudden and shocking departure, the Cardinals hired another former player in Joe McEwing.
McEwing was drafted by the Cardinals in 1992 and made his debut in 1998.
He has spent the past 16 seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization, serving as a bench coach under Rick Renteria and a third-base coach under former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.
On Twitter, Bob Nightengale revealed the reason for Holliday’s sudden resignation.
Matt Holliday's decision to resign as the #STLCards bench coach was strictly a family decision, deciding he wanted to spend more time with his kids.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 12, 2023
For now, it appears that Holliday is choosing to spend some more time with his family.
He had previously been the hitting coach at Oklahoma State University.
The 42-year-old was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame last August.
A native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Holliday played the first five seasons of his career with the Colorado Rockies before being traded to the Oakland Athletics.
His stay in Oakland didn’t last long, as he was traded to the Cardinals at the deadline in 2009 and subsequently re-signed the following offseason.
During his time in St. Louis, Holliday earned three All-Star selections and a World Series ring in 2011.
The Cardinals legend departed after the 2016 season and joined the New York Yankees before finishing out his career in Colorado.
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