Sad news: The St. Louis Cardinals head coach has announced his retirement due to his health conditions.

Sad news: The St. Louis Cardinals head coach has announced his retirement due to his health conditions.

On July 11, 2008, Jaime Garcia made his major league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals. With two innings pitched, no runs allowed on one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts, it was a decent debut.

Garcia tried his hardest to compete for the Birds on the Bat for the next eight seasons (nine years total; he missed the full 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery). His elbow and shoulder seemed to be suffering as a result of his exquisite pitching.

His career was marred by injuries, but he always bounced back. Though he was stronger than he should have been, he was not always stronger than he had been previously.

His mental toughness was frequently questioned by both fans and the media, but time and

He would heal from his injury and be ready to play again. Among the all-time toughest Cardinals was him.

Jaime Garcia has made the decision to retire from baseball following ten years of throwing through discomfort, having surgery, and giving it his all. With a 70-62 record, 3.85 ERA, and 3.77 FIP, he is done for the season. With flawless facial hair, he has struck out 925 batters and thrown four shutouts in 1135 innings.

PHOENIX: The light is fading. The game was over hours ago. The grounds staff are the only ones still inside the stadium, tarping the field.

One man is still wearing his full uniform.

Mike Shildt has been sitting on the San Diego Padres bench for the past ninety minutes. There is nowhere for him to go. He had plenty of time on his hands while he tried to figure out how he had arrived.

In an instant, he is spearheading the St. Louis Cardinals to one of the most spectacular September runs in baseball history, securing a third consecutive postseason berth.

The following day, he gets fired without warning, goes to the Padres for an interview regarding a management opening, and ends up joining the team as an interim third base coach and player development consultant.

 

He’s still working on getting over his emotional scars and wants to concentrate on the here and now, but he understands that for the time being, the past still defines who he is.

“I’m heartbroken,” Shildt admits to USA TODAY Sports. “It aches still.” It aches a lot. I cried when it first happened. I couldn’t be happy. With time, I became better. Then it hit me when I came down here and put on the Padres uniform.