New Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog appears at a news conference on June 10, 1980 at Grant's Farm. He managed for 73 games, then moved into the club's front office as GM on August 26, turning the team over to Red Schoendienst. Post-Dispatch photo.
On August 31, 1980, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a story about Whitey Herzog taking over as general manager of the Cardinals. Here was how the players reacted. Note that within four years, each of the players quoted below except Bob Forsch would be traded or released from the Cardinals.
With one or two exceptions, Cardinal players were caught off-guard Friday by the announcement that Whitey Herzog is the team's new general manager.