Whether it was listening to Daniel and Tara on Gateway to Baseball Heaven or the Broadcaster roundtable at the Winter Warm-Up, two thoughts stuck out in my head. As much as I enjoy listening to the St. Louis broadcasts, that would not be the case with all Horton all the time, but I also think I have the answer to the post-Shannon booth!
The saying always has been you don’t want to be the guy that replaces THE guy. For the Cardinals especially, nothing was more true than having TLR replaced by Mike Matheny. If the reports are true that Mike Shannon has one final season under his belt, well, then those are some massive shoes to fill. Most seem to think Ricky Horton has the inside track and certainly there can be a case for that. I’m just not ready to anoint him the favorite in the clubhouse.
Kevin Wheeler hosted the impressive morning session of the WWU today, and it included some great back and forth banter between just about every STL broadcaster not named Shannon. The best advice Jack Buck ever passed down was ‘call what you see’ for the radio and towards the end of the session the talk turned to Mike. Those stories were incredible and got me thinking about the next chapter for the Birds on the Bat.
I’m still on the fence as to whether or not Adam Wainwright takes this summer off, but I do know what he should be doing when 2022 rolls around. The situation would actually be perfect for Waino to step into the booth as a fresh voice where no situation would be too big. He got an interesting apprenticeship after the Cards were eliminated last fall, so there is an obvious interest.
This is a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned plus an opportunity that St. Louis shouldn’t miss. Unless he ends up moving back to Georgia full-time, there is no one better to pair with John Rooney. Follow my lead and keep Waino under the Arch!