St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt apologizes to anyone who was offended by the profanity-laced speech he gave to his team after defeating the Braves in Game Five of the National League Division Series. However, does not regret the passion he had during the speech since his team is now one step closer to reaching the World Series. On Wednesday, Shildt spoke to the media before his team takes on the Washington Nationals in the National League Championship Series and he explained why he was so passionate during his speech.
“I apologize if my language offended anyone,” said Shildt via USA Today. “I am flawed and have my moments. I grew up in a clubhouse and one of the crosses I bear is my language. I try to represent this organization with class and dignity. I have done a nice job over the many years of curbing that and trying to represent always this organization and myself in a positive light, with class and dignity.
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“I will not apologize for having passion about how I feel about our team.”
When it comes down to it, Shildt wouldn’t be talking about it had it not been recorded by outfielder Randy Arozarena.
“What I loved about this series is we played the game hard, we played the game right,” Shildt said which was seen through Arozarena’s Instagram Live. “They started some s—. We finished the s—. And that’s how we roll. No one f—s with us. Ever. Ever. Now I don’t give a f— who we play. We are going to f— them up. We are going to take it to them the whole f—ing way. We are going to kick their f—ing a—.”
Once the video went viral, Arozarena apologized for filming the speech which was supposed to be private.
“I want to apologize to my teammates, manager, the Cardinals organization and baseball fans for the video I posted tonight after our victory in Atlanta,” Arozarena said via ESPN. “It was a moment meant to be private. I made a rookie mistake by sharing it on my social media account.”
While Shildt my regret the words he used during his speech, the players seemed to love it.
“It means a lot to everybody,” pitcher Miles Mikolas said. “We get to see that fired-up side of him when the cameras are off – or supposed to be off. You see your manager get that fired up, that amped up, it’s contagious.”
