RetroSimba

(Updated March 5, 2022)

Though given an offer he called the best he’d ever received, Gene Mauch rejected a chance to manage the Cardinals.

In August 1980, when Whitey Herzog was promoted from manager to general manager of the Cardinals, Mauch was Herzog’s choice to replace him.

If Mauch had accepted the offer, he might have earned the prize that eluded him.

Mauch, who would manage for 26 years in the major leagues, never led a team to a league pennant or World Series championship. Two years after Mauch turned down the Cardinals, Herzog managed the team to the 1982 National League title and World Series crown.

Whether the Cardinals would have achieved the same with Mauch as their manager is conjecture, but it is a fact Herzog wanted to give him the opportunity.

Wanted: Type A

In June 1980, with the Cardinals’ record at 18-33, manager Ken Boyer was fired and replaced by Herzog. Two months later, Cardinals general manager John Claiborne was fired and replaced by Herzog. Red Schoendienst, Cardinals coach and former manager, was named interim manager for the rest of the season.

Cardinals owner Gussie Busch elevated Herzog to the general manager role because he believed a roster overhaul was needed to make the club a contender and he wanted Herzog to oversee the rebuilding job.

One of Herzog’s first tasks was to find a manager.

“The players are too passive … I want the players to be more aggressive,” Herzog said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “One quality I’ll be looking for in a manager is someone who is aggressive himself.”

The first candidate Herzog contacted was Mauch. “I do know he’s a fine manager _ I managed against him _ and he has a great baseball mind,” Herzog said.

Mauch, 54, was available because he had resigned as Twins manager in August 1980.

After Mauch joined the Twins in 1976, the organization severed ties with several of their best players through trades (Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven) or free agency (Larry Hisle, Bill Campbell). Mauch led the Twins to winning records in three of his first four seasons, but they had a 54-71 mark in 1980 when he chose to leave rather than return for the final year on his contract.

“I’ve had some bad teams _ teams that were bad enough to gag a maggot _ but even those teams were able to steal some games by executing,” Mauch told The Sporting News. “This season, we have lost because of a failure to execute.”

Mauch, an infielder, played nine seasons in the big leagues, including seven games with the 1952 Cardinals.

At 34, he was named manager of the Phillies in 1960. Four years later, Mauch had the Phillies in first place _ a 6.5-game lead with 12 to play _ but the team lost 10 in a row and finished a game behind the champion Cardinals.

Mauch managed the Phillies for nine years (1960-68), Expos for seven (1969-75) and Twins for five (1976-80).

He and Herzog competed in the same division, the American League West, from 1976-79 when Herzog managed the Royals.

Change of plans

Asked by Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch in September 1980 whether he was interested in becoming Cardinals manager, Mauch replied, “Let me say this: If I take another managing job, it will have to be with a team which has a chance to win. I think the Cardinals have a chance to win.”

Hummel concluded, “Mauch … would be Herzog’s type of manager. The Cardinals are in need of a demanding, tough-guy sort of leader.”

By early October, just before the 1980 regular season ended, Herzog’s top two choices for the managerial job became clear:  Mauch and Dick Williams.

Williams, manager of the Expos, was under contract to them for 1981, but there was published speculation the club could be considering a change. Williams was a St. Louis native and, like Mauch, an experienced manager with a no-nonsense approach. He had managed the 1967 Red Sox to a pennant and he had led the Athletics to World Series championships in 1972 and 1973.

When it became evident Williams would stay with the Expos, Herzog offered the job to Mauch.

“It is no secret that Mauch was Herzog’s first choice for the job,” Hummel wrote in the Post-Dispatch.

Unsure he was ready to manage again, Mauch declined.

Recalled Herzog: “He said, ‘I don’t want you to hold off on me. It’s probably the best offer I’ve ever had, but I just don’t feel like I want to do it.’ ”

Herzog also confirmed to Larry Harnly of The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill., that Mauch had turned down the Cardinals’ offer.

With Mauch and Williams unavailable, Herzog decided to hire himself.

On Oct. 24, 1980, the Cardinals announced Herzog would have the dual role of general manager and manager. Herzog hired his friend, Joe McDonald, former general manager of the Mets, to be executive assistant/baseball and take care of the administrative and business duties while Herzog focused on baseball matters.

(Herzog’s first choice for the assistant’s role had been Bing Devine, who had served two stints as Cardinals general manager, but Lou Susman, attorney for club owner Gussie Busch, opposed the move and blocked it, according to Hummel in the Post-Dispatch.)

Four months later, in February 1981, Mauch was named director of player personnel for the Angels.

“I had offers to manage four clubs this winter,” Mauch said. “If I wanted to manage, I’d be in one of those places. Right now, I don’t want to manage.”

According to Dave Anderson of the New York Times, Mauch turned down offers to manage the Padres, Giants and Mariners, in addition to the Cardinals.

In May 1981, the Angels fired manager Jim Fregosi _ and replaced him with Mauch.