Cardinals chief Oliver Marmol on "gruelling" MLB pressure that "eats you alive"
When it comes to the St Louis Cardinals, winning is expected.
The Cardinals are the second-most winningest franchise in Major League Baseball with 11 World Series to their name - their most recent coming in 2011.
But without winning it all in twelve years now, Cardinals faithful are now hoping to see their team truly compete for a World Series this season - something manager Oliver Marmol strives for every single day.
The Cardinals have seen the majority of their Spring Training Camp games attended by hundreds of fans, who seemed to be in good spirits in Jupiter, Florida, when Mirror Sport spent some time with the team.
And while Marmol himself is excited for the new season, he is well aware of the pitfalls of being in the big time... but that's all a part of the reason why he loves the sport.
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Speaking to Mirror Sport in Florida, Marmol recalled his first memories of playing sport, and after being asked if he ever considered basketball or American football, he joked: "Man, I'm 5'9 so basketball was never really in the plan! It's always been baseball to me."
The manager's expression then changed, as he discussed his love for the sport, along with coaching the Cardinals. He said: "Baseball is a gruelling sport that sucks. It eats you alive. It doesn't care about a whole lot.
"And at the end of the day - even your good players are failing, and they're failing a tonne. Even in a .300 season, you are failing seven out of 10 times, and that's an unbelievable year.
Marmol is the youngest manager in MLB history to win a divisional title"Baseball teaches you about life and how to respond to tonnes of adversity that comes your way - how do you overcome those things when you have played through a young age. It teaches you that it's never over, there are ways to overcome obstacles - and that's why I love this sport."
At just 36 years old, Marmol is the youngest coach in Major League Baseball, and is the youngest ever to win his division. But that was never something he saw coming for his career after retiring from his playing days early.
Marmol continued: "I'm having a blast, I really am. It's been good to do this with the staff that we have here - the way we work, communicate and hold each other accountable is huge to what we're trying to do here.
"It helps to have the group of guys we have in this clubhouse, they have given us the permission and respect to hold them accountable and to make sure they're able to achieve what they're capable of doing.
St Louis Cardinals Spring Training 2023"It's been a great back and forth first year, but I have enjoyed the heck out of it."
When asked if he ever saw himself becoming a manager, he replied: "To be honest, no. I did not ever have a goal to become a manager in the big leagues - especially at this age!
"I have tried to fulfil all my coaching roles to the best of my ability, but the step up has been fast. I never really had that thought of 'I'm going to be one of the youngest managers ever', it just sort of happened."
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Marmol has spent the last five years as a coach with the team in numerous roles, and is now seen as one of the more ascending managers in the league - and could have a long future with the team should he continue to build on an impressive 2022 season.
St. Louis Cardinals will play Chicago Cubs in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2023 on June 24 – 25 at London Stadium. Tickets are available now at ticketmaster.co.uk/mlb.
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