Skip Schumaker is the new manager of the Miami Marlins, the team’s 16th manager, replacing Don Mattingly, who lasted seven years in the job before he, principal owner Bruce Sherman and general manager Kim Ng met and decided that Mattingly’s time with the team had come to an end.
Schumaker was soon grabbed from the St. Louis Cardinals, where he had been hired as the bench coach.
The recent history of the Marlins is a story of management’s mid-season removal of the team’s best players in exchange for promising players or draft choices. Unfortunately, those players were not ready to play immediately at the top level. Consequently, at mid-season, Mattingly’s teams were not contending, even for a low-level playoff spot.
It was disappointing each Fourth of July to no longer be rooting for the team even to grab a wild card because what was left was no longer competitive.
This will be Schumaker’s first year as a manager. Let’s hope he has the patience to keep going if management continues dealing off quality players at midseason. Or hopefully, he’ll have a team that is in contention for a playoff spot and management leaves it alone.
According to Wikipedia, Jared Michael “Skip” Schumaker was born Feb. 3, 1980, in Torrance, California. His wife is Lindsey Schumaker.
When Schumaker was 5, according to Wikipedia, and living in southern California, he met Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda and pitcher Orel Hershiser at a restaurant. Both signed his baseball glove with “To a future Dodger.” When he reached the Major Leagues with the Cardinals, Schumaker was given uniform No. 55, which “happened to be Orel’s number and I stuck with it,” Schumaker was quoted as saying.
When he joined the Dodgers in 2013, he initially wore No. 3, but switched to 55.
It remains to be seen what number he’ll wear with the Marlins.
Schumaker played college ball in 2001 for the University of California-Santa Barbara and batted .400. That led to him being selected in the fifth round of the 2001 draft by St. Louis. A second baseman and outfielder, he played eight seasons in the Major Leagues for St. Louis, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cincinnati.
In the fifth game of the 2011 National League Division Series, he drove in the only run of the Cardinals’ 1-0 victory against the Phillies. St. Louis won the World Series in seven games against the Texas Rangers. (He played in 28 games for the Cardinals when they won the 2006 World Series.)
On Feb. 8, 2010, Schumaker signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals worth $4.7 million,
buying out his final arbitration years. On Dec. 11, 2012, he signed a two-year contract for $3 million. A year after that, he was traded to Los Angeles for a minor league shortstop.
In his one season with the Dodgers, he played in 125 games and hit .263. But on Nov, 18, 2013,
Schumaker signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds with a club option for 2016.
However, in February 2016, Schumaker signed a minor league contract with the Padres and a month later, on March 9, announced his retirement.
On Dec. 4, 2017, Schumaker agreed to become the new first base coach for the San Diego Padres. He was promoted to associate manager prior to the 2020 season. On Nov. 6, 2021, Schumaker was hired as the bench coach for the Cardinals.
And, now, as of last week, he’s the new manager of the Miami Marlins.
We’ll see what happens.
