GEICO Alumni Showcase: Mike Shildt
By Mike Gore
Special to BigSouthSports.com
There are 30 managerial jobs in major league baseball.
Each manager has taken his own unique path to own one of the most prestigious jobs you can have in professional baseball.
For one of those lucky 30, his path started in the Big South Conference more than 30 years ago.
Mike Shildt played baseball at UNC Asheville for three seasons and was an assistant coach for two years.
And while he never led the Bulldogs to a championship either as a player or a coach, his work at Asheville helped get him to where he is today: the manager of the defending Central Division champion St. Louis Cardinals and the reigning National League Manager of the Year.
Mike’s amazing journey starts in the summer of 1986 in his hometown of Charlotte, N.C. He was playing for an American Legion team that featured future Asheville teammates John Turner and Marc Rosenbalm.
“I was lucky to play on a great American Legion team that had a lot of good players on the roster,” admitted Shildt recently from Florida. “I was not one of the top players but there was a lot of interest in our team and lot of college scouts came to watch.
“Kenny Bagwell (UNC Asheville’s baseball coach at the time) watched us play and was in the process of recruiting Rosy (Marc Rosenbalm) and JT (John Turner),” added Shildt. “I was committed to Wingate as a preferred walk-on and was planning to go there.
“Coach Bagwell asked Marc and JT to come up to Asheville and I went up with them to take a look at the school,” Shildt continued. “While we were up there, (Bagwell) put us through a little workout and I think he liked what he saw from me. This proved to be a great opportunity for me to come play college baseball at a Division I school and I jumped at the chance.”
UNC Asheville’s baseball program was in its infancy, as it had competed for just two years and 1987 was going to be its first year as a Division I program. At the time, the Bulldogs did not have an on-campus home.
“It was an interesting time to be at Asheville,” remembered Shildt. “We didn’t have a home field, played most of our games away from home with a few at McCormick Field,” which was home of the Class A Asheville Tourists and where part of the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed in October 1987.
“But it was a great experience,” added Shildt. “I, along with my teammates, helped build Greenwood Field (UNC Asheville’s eventual home field). I got close with my teammates and forged some great friendships.
“A highlight from my freshman season was going down to play Campbell. Coach Bagwell started me at shortstop and I had a good series,” Shildt said. “Campbell was really, really good, as was our league. I know the Big South has always been good in baseball and trust me it was really good then, too.”
Shildt took a year off from the diamond in 1988 but was back and ready to play in 1989 under a new coaching staff.
“Steve Pope was our new coach and he graciously allowed me to come back on the team,” explained Shildt. “He had gotten there the previous year and had finished getting the field ready. So it was exciting to finally play and practice on a field that I and so many others had literally built from scratch during our freshman year.”
The Bulldogs struggled for much of the year but got hot at the end of the season and won their final eight games to finish 18-27 and in third-place in the Big South Conference. Unfortunately, there was no Big South Tournament that season but the last part of the year brought Shildt some excitement.
“We finished very strong and a big win for us was when we went over to Tennessee and beat them,” he recalled. “A little school like us beating an SEC team on the road was a real thrill. I got a chance to play that night and contributed to the win. It was an exciting van ride home.”
The momentum of the 1989 season carried over to the following year when the Asheville program experienced its first 20-win season and its best record to this day. The Bulldogs went 25-25-1 and once again finished in third-place in the Big South.
“We had some more great wins in 1990. We beat Tennessee again in Knoxville,” stated Shildt. “I remember us thrashing Duke at home on Easter Sunday (the school’s first-ever win over an ACC school in any sport). We went into East Carolina when they were nationally ranked and beat them twice. We lost the first game in the ninth inning on a play we should have made and then beat them the next two games. They (East Carolina) had a long home winning streak that we snapped. I got a chance to play in that series and made a contribution to the wins.”
Shildt was a versatile player for the Bulldogs. He could play anywhere in the infield and often did. He could also play as a catcher. Like any young baseball player, there is the dream of playing professionally but he understood that was not going to happen for him.
“I realized early on in my college career that playing college baseball was going to be it for me,” said Shildt. “There were guys that were a lot better than me on my team and on other teams.”
Looking back over 30 years, he still remembers how strong the competition in the Big South was every time out.
“The Big South was so good in baseball when I played. It was a super-underrated conference that didn’t get the recognition it deserved,” said Shildt. “I remember playing and competing against guys that would go on to have pro careers on just about every team we played.”
One program stood out to him -- former league member Coastal Carolina.
“We were so much improved as a program in 1989 and 1990, but we simply couldn’t beat Coastal Carolina,” explained Shildt. “(Coastal head coach John Vrooman) had built an exceptional team that was good in every area of the game. They were especially good in the running game and would score runs in every conceivable way.”
Shildt got into coaching at his alma mater in 1992. Pope left to become a scout with the Seattle Mariners and Asheville turned the reins over to Pope’s assistant, Jim Bretz.
“I missed baseball and wanted to get back in the game somehow,” stated Shildt. “When I played, I would talk baseball with Coach Pope and Coach Bretz and hopefully I made an impression on both of them about how much I wanted to learn about the game.”
Bretz agreed to let Shildt back with the Bulldog program as a volunteer assistant coach. After the first week of the season, there was a coaching change that benefitted Shildt.
“Suddenly, my status got elevated as I went from a volunteer assistant to an assistant coach with some real responsibilities,” said Shildt. “I worked with the hitters and infielders and was also recruiting. I realized how lucky I was to have these responsibilities at such an early stage of my career.
“I really enjoyed working with our guys,” he added. “It was encouraging that our players were listening to a younger coach like me.”
Shildt worked as an assistant coach with the Bulldog program for two years, and Asheville was among the top hitting teams in the league each year he worked with the Bulldog hitters.
And he remembers the time the Bulldogs finally beat Coastal Carolina for the first time ever in 1992. In the second game of a doubleheader, Asheville held on for a 4-3 victory. Shildt recalls a key play that second baseman Scott Phillips made to help preserve the win.
“This was long before the day of the shifts you see in baseball today, but I moved Scott over a couple of steps and he made a great play on a ball that was hit to him,” described Shildt. “It stopped a Coastal rally and was a key play for us. I felt good about moving Scott over but I also remember the great play he made.”
While Shildt was learning the ropes of college coaching, he connected with an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina.
“I was working a camp and Pat Lytle befriended me,” admitted Shildt. “I didn’t know many people at the camp but knew Pat from Coastal Carolina. As I said, I always respected their program from afar but I really enjoyed getting to talk baseball with him. Pat had a great baseball mind and he ran their baserunning program that I was always so impressed with. We hit it off and it led to another opportunity.”
After the 1993 season, Lytle hired Shildt to help coach the Conway Legion team. His compensation was selling ads for the game program and a free place to live.
“I made about 30 percent of everything I sold and I lived for free in an un-airconditioned trailer parked right next to the baseball field at Coastal Carolina. I think that’s where they kept all of their baseballs,” laughed Shildt. “It was a great learning experience and I learned a lot from Pat during that summer.”
Shildt’s years at UNC Asheville and the Big South helped him then and still help him today.
“Being at UNC Asheville and in the Big South Conference exposed me to a high level of baseball. It opened my eyes to the best level of competition and what you have to do to be prepared each day to compete successfully,” stated Shildt. “There are things that I learned at Asheville and in my time in the Big South that have stayed with me every day no matter where I was coaching.”
Shildt had an interesting path to the St. Louis Cardinals after leaving UNC Asheville and Conway. He first coached the West Charlotte High School baseball team for a few years and led the squad to its best record in school history at the time.
Shildt got back in college baseball in 1997 and worked a few years at UNC Charlotte where he helped guide 49er hitters to record-setting seasons.
The Cardinals would come calling in 2003, and he started with the organization as an area scout before moving into an instructor’s role. He got a chance to manage with the short-season Johnson City Cardinals starting in 2009, and was then promoted to managing the Springfield Cardinals (AA) in 2012. Shildt would then become the manager of the Cards’ Triple-A team in Memphis in 2015.
Shildt got the call to the major leagues when then-St. Louis manager Mike Matheny asked him to be his Quality Control Coach for the 2017 season. He was quickly promoted to third base coach during the season and then named bench coach for the 2018 campaign.
Halfway through the 2018 season, with the Cardinals struggling, Matheny was let go. Shildt was named as the Interim Manager right before the All-Star Game.
The Cardinals responded to Shildt. His communication style proved to be a big hit with the players and his subtle changes had the Redbirds playing much better. He was named permanent manager for the Cardinals on August 28. St. Louis was in contention for a wild card berth until the final day of the season before being edged out by the Cubs and Brewers.
The year 2019 would be one of the most dramatic years in Shildt’s life. The Cardinals were his team from Spring Training and while there would be ups and downs throughout the season, St. Louis would win its first Central Division title in four years on the final day of the season with a win over the Cubs.
“We got off to a great start and had the best record in baseball in April,” said Shildt. “But in May we struggled to win and it was frustrating. We were playing good baseball. We were doing the same things that we were doing in April but didn’t have the results to show for it. Our hitting was a little off but overall our guys were playing well.
“To our players’ credit, they kept working, stayed positive in their approach and started to grind out some wins in June,” added Shildt. “We weren’t winning like we were in April but we weren’t losing as many games as we did in May. Slowly but surely, we were turning things around.”
St. Louis got hot right after the All-Star Break. The Cardinals went 7-1 in a key road trip after the break, which included a four-game sweep of the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The Cards moved past the Brewers and the Cubs into first-place in early September and maintained a lead.
Late in the season, St. Louis went into Wrigley Field and stunned the Cubs with a four-game sweep that would eventually eliminate the preseason favorites. The Brewers kept on St. Louis’ heels with their own winning streak, but on the final day of the season, the Cards blanked the Cubs, 9-0, and the Central Division title belonged to St. Louis.
“It wasn’t easy but winning a division title isn’t supposed to be easy,” Mike explained. “We did a great job in Wrigley Field late in the season and managed to get four big wins and then held off the Brewers to win the division.
“Winning the division at home was a huge thrill,” he added. “You’re together with these guys for eight months going back to Spring Training. It’s hard to explain an accomplishment like winning a division because so much goes into it. But it is nice to see that the daily commitment our players and staff had made throughout the year had paid off.”
The Cards would face the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs and the teams would play a memorable five-game series. After splitting the first two games in Atlanta, the Braves would pull out Game 3 by scoring three runs when the Cards needed just one out to win.
St. Louis tied the series at 2-2 with a comeback victory. Trailing 4-3 with two outs in the eighth inning, Yadier Molina tied the game at 4-4 with a run-scoring single and would deliver a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning.
Playing the Braves in Atlanta in the fifth and decisive game, the Cardinals stunned the home crowd and the nation with an incredible 10-run first inning en route to a 13-1 win. St. Louis was now in the National League Championship Series.
Eight months later, the 10-run inning in Game 5 in Atlanta is still hard to believe even for Shildt.
“The first inning of Game 5 was just surreal,” he said. “Mike Foltynewicz (Atlanta’s starting pitcher) had shut us down in Game 2. Our guys worked hard to have great at-bats starting with Dexter Fowler earning a walk to start the game. We were able to get some hits, get some breaks and everything started to click. And before you know it, we had 10 runs.”
They would take on the Washington Nationals for the National League Championship. The Nats had upset the Dodgers in the NLDS and their strong pitching would be fully on display in this series. Washington would win the series in four games and then go on to win the World Series against the Astros.
No one had picked the Cardinals to win the Central Division or to do much in the playoffs. Shildt’s great work had not gone unnoticed and after the season, he was named a finalist for National League Manager of the Year.
But the nomination was bittersweet. Shildt had come home to Charlotte to check on his biggest fan – his mother, Lib. A longtime employee of the Charlotte O’s, she was very sick and had to go in the hospital. She did learn of her son being nominated for Manager of the Year and was determined to find out if he had won the award on Nov. 12.
“My mom had the nurse write the date out so she could be reminded about when the award would be announced,” he remembered. “However, it became apparent she wasn’t going to be able to make it by Nov. 12.
“Now my mom was not the most patient person in the world. I finally told her: ‘look you’ll know before me so everything is going to be okay,’” he added.
She would pass away on Nov. 6. Six days later, the former student and assistant coach at UNC Asheville who learned a lot about baseball in the Big South Conference, would be named National League Manager of the Year.
Shildt was pleased to win the award but believes the Manager of the Year honor belongs to the organization.
“This award is a team award that everyone in our organization should share in,” admitted Shildt. “I’m humbled and honored to win the award but at the end of the day, it’s a team and organization award.”
And he wouldn’t mind giving it up.
“I would trade the Manager of the Year award to win a World Series championship any day of the week,” Shildt declared.
The year 2019 would have a happy ending for Shildt in his personal life. He proposed to his girlfriend Michelle Seagrave on Christmas Eve. She said yes and they were married on Friday, March 6, 2020 – an off-day during Spring Training.
One of the keys to Mike’s success both as a major league manager and a minor league manager is his ability to communicate with his players. The Cardinals, from veteran to rookie, rave about Shildt’s ability to talk with players and show how much he cares about them. Some of that he learned from his time at UNC Asheville.
“UNC Asheville never treated me like a number. They always treated me like a person,” stated Shildt. “I was lucky to receive a high-quality education from a great school that has helped me almost every day for the past 25 years. People cared about me and how I did. That meant a lot to me as a young adult.
“There were so many people at UNC Asheville who looked after me, helped me and made sure I graduated,” added Shildt. “Those are people that I will be forever grateful for and who have influenced me to this day.”
Whether at Spring Training or traveling around the nation managing the Cardinals, he still keeps up with the Bulldogs.
“I really like Scott Friedholm (UNC Asheville’s current head coach) and talk to him when we can,” said Shildt. “I’ve tried to help with their fundraising and support the program anyway possible. I still follow the Bulldogs and am always rooting for them, not just in baseball but in all sports. I was so happy (in 2016) when both their men’s and women’s basketball teams won championships and went to the NCAA Tournament.
“And it looks like the Big South is still pretty good in baseball, as well. I’m not surprised. The league has always been good in baseball from top to bottom.”
About the Author: Mike Gore was Sports Information Director at UNC Asheville from 1986-2015. He was inducted into the Big South Conference Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Alumni Showcase is brought to you by GEICO. Big South Alumni could save even more with a #AlumniDiscount from GEICO. Visit
www.geico.com today!
