SAN DIEGO – Mike Shildt, who spent 18 years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a scout, coach and big-league manager, recently offered new comments on his dismissal from the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021 and how it’s shaped his approach to managing today.

Now in his second season as skipper of the San Diego Padres, Shildt has guided the team an impressive 17-8 start after leading them to postseason last year.

Shildt managed the Cardinals from 2018-2021, earning NL Manager of the Year honors in 2019 and compiling a 252-199 regular-season record (.559 winning percentage). He also led the Cardinals to a franchise-record 17-game winning streak in September 2021 that sparked an improbable run to postseason, only to be let go weeks later. At the time, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak cited “philosophical differences,” but not much more behind the firing.

Earlier this week, as first reported by Thomas Gauvain of Redbird Rants, Shildt joined MLB reporter Jayson Stark and former player Doug Glanville for a conversation on their Spotify podcast “Starkville.”

While most of the conversation focused on his time in San Diego and building team chemistry, Shildt briefly offered some new insight into his departure from St. Louis.

Shildt was asked about embracing second chances, as the Padres have given him with his current manager job. He was asked, “Is there something about how you look at this managing job that’s different because of what you went through when you lost your first [manager] job [with the St. Louis Cardinals]?”

Shildt responded with the following remarks:

“Yes, I think some of the things we [previously] talked about [on the Padres] are part of that. I still was navigating and trying to get support and my head around how they continue to create, which by the way I felt like I was in a good place with that, and then you look up and you learn a lot. I won’t get out of school with anything. I’ve been very above board with all of it and I will continue to be that way.”

“I was super grateful, beyond grateful, for the 18 years in St. Louis, and the opportunity that I was given that never in my wildest dreams thought would be real.”

“But yeah, you go into this second opportunity a little more open, eyes open, a little more aware of how the industry works, who people are, what I’m responsible for, what I need to let go of. But at the end of the day, what I also learned is I’m going to love our players. I’m going to treat people as well as I can, but I’m still also not going to apologize as respectfully as possible to a standard of excellence that, quite honestly, our ownership, our fans, our team expects.”

“That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to win baseball games and chasing a ring. They don’t give them away.”

Shildt expressed gratitude for his time with the Cardinals, but also acknowledged that it changed his approach to leadership. His comments suggest a desire to grow as a manager with a deeper understanding of the baseball industry while staying true to core values that drive him to win.

When interviewed in 2022 about his abrupt dismissal from the Cardinals, Shildt told USA Today baseball reporter Bob Nightengale that it left him with “a broken heart.” Following the 2021 Cardinals season, Shildt added in that report, “There were just some things that I felt could be better, and I thought I was in a safe place to share them. Clearly, I wasn’t.’’

Since Shildt’s departure, the Cardinals have turned to Oli Marmol as manager. Marmol led the to a NL Central division title in his 2022 debut season, endured a 91-loss campaign in 2023 and modestly improved the club to just above .500 (but not postseason) in 2024.

Nearly a month into Marmol’s fourth season as skipper, the St. Louis Cardinals are off to a 10-15 start.