Schumaker talking about winning convinced Marlins on hire

By James On Nov 3, 2022

MIAMI (AP) — Skip Schumaker thought his meeting with the Miami Marlins might last an hour. It turns out that he will be around them for a little longer.

Schumaker was introduced as the Marlins’ manager Thursday, just over a week after accepting the job and replacing Don Mattingly at the helm in Miami. Schumaker, now a first-time coach, is the 16th skipper in team history.

“It just felt right,” Schumaker said. “People of high character, people he wanted to be with.”

Schumaker comes to Miami from St. Louis after spending this season as the Cardinals’ bench coach. The Marlins reached out a couple of days after the Cardinals were knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, asking to meet in San Diego.

Schumaker made the relatively short trip from his Southern California home to that meeting, not expecting much. One hour turned into three hours, followed by a second interview in New York and now a new opportunity in Miami.

Marlins general manager Kim Ng said Schumaker made an impression by talking about winning from the start of their first meeting.

“Honestly, winning is not easy,” Ng said. “And there are many steps to it. Not only do you have to have your process, but you have to have execution.”

The Marlins have surely learned that by now. Schumaker will inherit a club that posted 12 losing records over the past 13 seasons, finished 69-93 this year and plays in a division that has the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta, a 2022 World Series entrant Phillies and a 101 -winning team in the New York Mets.

He doesn’t seem deterred by the depth of the division.

“We’re ready to win,” said Schumaker, who won two World Series titles as a player with the Cardinals. “How we get to the postseason is what worries me every day as a coach. Not just one year, but year after year after year.”