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Whitey Herzog Not Sure Mark McGwire Will Coach for Cards

Dec 7, 2009 – 8:01 PM
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Pat Lackey

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Whitey HerzogEven on the day he was elected to the Hall of Fame, Whitey Herzog clearly has no qualms speaking in his mind. In talking to the media after his selection by the Veteran's Committee, Herzog was asked about Mark McGwire, the Cardinals' new hitting coach. After saying he thought that McGwire would do a "good job," he also said that he's not convinced that McGwire will actually go through with the commitment to coach when it's all said and done.

That's not exactly a new sentiment; it's something many people have wondered since the announcement was made shortly after the season that McGwire was going to coach for the Cards. He still hasn't talked to the media since his hiring and this isn't something he can hide form forever. He's going to have to go to camp and when that happens, the media will be there and they're going to have questions.

Presumably, McGwire would want to get that initial confrontation with the media out of the way before Cardinals' camp opens in the spring. He's probably going to be a huge distraction for the team either way, but getting some of the questions out of the way before Spring Training would help ease that at least a little bit. Tony La Russa is likely going to try and protect McGwire a bit, but the reality is that he's not just any other hitting coach. The longer he avoids talking, the worse it's going to be when he finally does.
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