The cardinals announced Thursday that Matt Holiday resigned as the team’s bench coach. He will be replaced by Joe McEwing, who has spent the past 15 years on the White Sox coaching staff. It’s a surprising announcement, given that Holliday wasn’t hired for the job until early November. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and The Athletic’s Katie Woo suggest Holliday’s decision came down to wanting to spend more time with his family (Twitter connections).
Holliday, 43 this weekend, played in the major leagues from 2004 to 2018, wearing a Cardinals uniform for much of that time. So it made for an exciting return to the franchise when it was announced in November that he would take over the bench coaching position that had been left vacant when Skip Schumaker left to become manager of the Marlins.
However, with spring training looming on the horizon, it seems Holliday has had a change of heart. Instead of returning to the MLB life of being constantly on the move from around January/February through October/November, he will choose a less nomadic path and spend more time with his family. Holliday has four children with the eldest of these four, jackson vacationcoming off being 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 then played for the Mets, Royals and Astros. He has since moved into coaching, starting in the minor league White Sox system in 2008. He jumped to the big league team for the 2012 season, spending time as a third base coach and bench coach. until 2022.
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