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Veteran Catcher Named To Replace LaRussa…

New Cardinals manager Mike Matheny played at Michigan from 1989-1991 (Courtesy MGoblue.com).

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — University of Michigan alumnus and 13-year Major League Baseball veteran Mike Matheny (1989-91) was officially introduced as the 49th manager in St. Louis Cardinals history at a press conference Monday (Nov. 14). Matheny replaces Tony LaRussa, who retired after the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series in seven games over the Texas Rangers.

Matheny becomes the first Wolverine alum to manage in the Major Leagues since Steve Boros (1956-57) was the skipper of both the Oakland Athletics (1983-84) and the San Diego Padres (1986).

“It’s very exciting to have one of our own named manager of the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals,” Michigan head coach Rich Maloney said. “Mike was an outstanding player at Michigan, a Gold Glove winner and All-Star in the big leagues, and now a Major League manager. Mike continues to raise the bar in everything he does. He’s a true class act, and we in the Michigan family could not be more proud.”

Matheny played for four teams during his Major League career and won four Gold Gloves at catcher, earning three with the Cardinals (2000, ’03, ’04) and another with the San Francisco Giants (2005). He helped the Cardinals to postseason play four times in five seasons, including a World Series appearance in 2004. Matheny also played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays and ended his playing career with the San Francisco Giants. His best power year came with the Giants in 2005 when he hit 13 home runs and 34 doubles, drove in 59 runs and had a .406 slugging percentage.

A native of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Matheny earned the Ray L. Fisher Award (Michigan’s Most Valuable Player) and was named to the All-Big Ten Conference third team his junior year (1991) in Ann Arbor. He had 15 doubles, seven home runs, and 39 runs batted in as a co-captain. A member of the 1990 Big Ten All-Academic team, Matheny won the Ted Sizemore Award as Michigan’s top fielder as a freshman and had just one error in 174 chances in 1990. He helped Michigan to the Big Ten regular-season title and an NCAA Regional appearance in 1989. Matheny was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round of the 1991 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Matheny recently visited Ann Arbor as he was the keynote speaker in the 2011 Michigan baseball banquet in May.

(Release)

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Former Washington Husky Joins Impressive List Of Consecutive Winners.

Lincecum

Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts.

A product of Liberty High in Renton, Lincecum spent the 2004 through 2006 seasons with the Huskies and won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player in 2006.

He is just just the fourth National Leaguer to win the Cy Young in consecutive seasons. Sandy Koufax won it in 1965 and 1966 and both Randy Johnson (1999-2002) and Greg Maddux (1992-95) won four straight. In the AL, Pedro Martinez, Jim Palmer, Denny McLain and Rogers Clemens have each won two straight, with Clemens having won two in a row on two separate occasions.

The Cy Young Award is the biggest single-season honor ever given to a former Husky in one of the big three professional sports.

Only 10 points separated the top three vote-getters. Chris Carpenter was second and St. Louis teammate Adam Wainwright finished third despite getting the most first-place votes.

The 2009 honors for Lincecum and Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke reflect a recent shift in how voters pick baseball’s best pitchers. Wins, losses and ERA used to determine the Cy Young Award winner – now it’s detailed statistics such as WHIP, FIP and BABIP.

Greinke equaled the previous low of 16 wins for a non-shortened season when he won the AL award on Tuesday.

“It’s turned into a game of complete numbers and statistics and what people do with that,” Lincecum said. “So I mean just to put more options in the voters’ heads about what’s supposed to be more important, which takes priority over another, that’s all based on opinion.”

Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, 12 seconds and nine thirds for 100 points in balloting released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Carpenter had nine firsts, 14 seconds and seven thirds to take second with 94.

Wainwright, who led the NL with 19 wins and 233 innings, had 12 first-place votes, five seconds and 15 thirds for 90 points. Trevor Hoffman, who finished behind Tom Glavine in 1998, is the only other player to get the most firsts and not win the award.

“The guys I was going up against, Wainwright and Carpenter, had tremendous seasons,” the 25-year-old Lincecum said. “It was a lucky one for me. I’ll take them as I come I guess.”

Two voters, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN.com, did not include Carpenter on their ballots. Carroll had Wainwright in the top spot, Lincecum second and Arizona’s Dan Haren third. Law voted for Lincecum, Atlanta’s Javier Vazquez and Wainwright in third. Those were the only votes in any position for Haren and Vazquez.

Lincecum, who had a $650,000 salary and is headed for a big raise now that he’s eligible for arbitration, did not have any bonus provision for winning the award. Carpenter receives $100,000 for finishing second, Wainwright $100,000 for winding up third and Vazquez $70,000 for being voted fourth.

Lincecum teamed with Matt Cain to give the Giants a strong 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation, helping them stay in contention all year in one of baseball’s biggest surprises. He went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 32 starts and 225 1-3 innings.

“I’m excited,” Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval told The Associated Press. “I’m very happy for him. He did a great job for the team and he had great numbers.”

San Francisco selected the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Lincecum with the 10th overall selection in the 2006 draft out of Washington, and he instantly became the organization’s top pitching prospect since Hall of Famer Juan Marichal signed with the New York Giants as an amateur free agent in 1957. He made his major league debut in 2007 and is 40-17 with a 2.90 ERA in three seasons.

(Release)