Q&A with Bill DeWitt III: Cardinals president savors World Series magic

St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III stopped by the Southeast Missourian office Tuesday afternoon while in Cape Girardeau for a Big Brothers Big Sisters reception. DeWitt, whose father Bill DeWitt Jr. is the Cardinals chairman and CEO, is a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri board member. He looked back to the Cardinals' memorable run to the World Series title in October and ahead to the organization's future without superstar Albert Pujols, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels this offseason.

Question: Which name have you heard most this offseason: David Freese or Albert Pujols?

Answer: I would say Pujols from a pure volume standpoint. It was just overwhelming in terms of all that, but Freese in a different way. People are talking about him in a different way of, like, what's he up to, what's he doing. He's gone to this, to that. He's been in the news for kind of all the right reasons, whereas Pujols unfortunately we weren't able to get it done.

Q: Where were you in Busch Stadium when Freese hit the triple to tie Game 6 of the World Series in the ninth inning? [The Cardinals later won the game on Freese's home run in the 11th inning.]

A: I was in the owner's box with my immediate family -- my wife and two kids. We had some friends and we also had some guests in from out of town. My parents and other members of the ownership group were down in seats down by the dugout, but I was up there. It was so incredible because in my head was turning all these things where I was expecting what was going to happen when the Rangers closed it out because we had mapped out different scenarios if the Cardinals won versus if the Rangers won in terms of the on-field celebration and how that all works with the Commissioner's Office. So at that point, I had almost gotten to full resignation of my fate of watching the Rangers celebrate on field.

Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr., left, and team president Bill DeWitt III, second from left, present President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama with bats and jerseys during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House earlier this month. (SUSAN WALSH ~ Associated Press)

Then when the comeback happened twice, I was literally speechless. I just stood there and said, 'Oh my God. I can't believe this is happening.' It was great.

Q: Did you think Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz was going to catch Freese's ninth-inning hit?

A: The replays make it look like it was a more catchable ball. My view of it looked like it could've been a home run. It was hit pretty hard and he had hit some opposite-field home runs this year. When he first hit it, it was just that anticipation, you know, 'Get over, get over, get over. Drop.' I didn't even process it.

Q: Do you still feel like you're celebrating a World Series title or have you had to kind of move on now to the next season?

A: I think there's still an element of sort of happiness. It's like a low simmer of celebration every day because we're still doing things that relate to that. For example, I'm working on our World Series rings. I'm working with suppliers and helping design it and coming up with some solutions to some things that we want.

It's a big deal for the front office because we buy rings for not just the players but all of our front office people and some other affiliates of the club, so we end up really spending a lot of time on that and making sure we do the right thing, get the right people. It's just fun to be a part of that.

But then we're also jumping in to all the offseason planning. It's compressed when your October is taken up for all the right reasons. It compresses your offseason and then you also throw some additional things on to your plate.

Q: The Cardinals recently visited the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama. What was it like to be a part of that?

A: It was very surreal. I had been to the White House before, but you kind of wait around. It's a lot of hurry up and wait when you go through security.

We had been to Walter Reed [Medical Center] that morning and that was really cool. I think that brought more of the reality. It was a nice idea. I think Michelle Obama probably pushed it because that's one of her pet causes. ... I was able to see our guys interact with some of the soldiers -- wounded vets -- who were really happy to see them.

Then we get to the White House and you're waiting around. It was fun for me to hang out with the players because I don't really do a lot of that and I don't travel with the team as much. I don't try to just be around too much in the clubhouse, so it was fun to be able to get their reactions to what they'd experienced.

I had been there so I knew some points for some guys who had never been there. I was acting like a little bit of a tour guide. It was kind of fun.

Then when [the president] came into the room, everybody is aware of the president being in the room. He spent some real good time, he spent about 20 minutes. He and Michelle both spent some time talking about it. My dad said, 'Come up with me to present the jersey.' It just sort of happened, and it was pretty fun.

Q: There has been so much going on during the offseason. Manager Tony LaRussa, pitching coach Dave Duncan, vice president of player procurement Jeff Luhnow and Pujols have all left the team. Has it been as crazy for you as it has been for the average fan?

A: This is an offseason that will just always go down as probably one of the most unique we've ever experienced, or any team has every experienced for that matter. First of all winning the World Series in such dramatic fashion then, like you said, you lose your manager the next day after the parade. You have to hire a manager instantly because you can't go too long without somebody that's on the same page moving forward. Then of course Duncan, which was unfortunate really, the circumstances with his wife, and then Jeff Luhnow, who left to get a GM job.

It's funny because every one of those departures in a normal situation might have been viewed as the sky is falling in St. Louis and people aren't happy and there's turmoil. Whenever there's turnover, people perceive it to be as a result of turmoil. In this case, every departure could easily be explained for what it really was. Tony had been there 16 years and 30-something overall and was ready to go on his own volition. Same thing with Dave Duncan. He's got family issues that he wants to deal with and spend more time on. Then with Jeff Luhnow, he's done a great job for us in scouting and player development. He got a GM job. You can't begrudge a guy. We're very happy for him. I think it actually speaks well to our organization that we've been able to develop talent that is ready for that next level. All of those things, really, you can look at the silver lining of those developments as say that this is just what happens. It's one of the byproducts of success.

Q: Are things settled for the upcoming season?

A: I think we're pretty much settled on all of our personnel matters. We signed [outfielder Carlos] Beltran and we signed [shortstop Rafael] Furcal, which was a pretty big deal. I think more just changes around the margins until we see what happens in the season.

I think we've always felt that it's great to have an opportunity or an ability to make some changes along the way when you see what those needs are. It's been clear that whatever you think your needs are in January, they're always different in July.

Q: Is it fair to call this a time of transition for the team?

A: I think it's accurately described as a season of transition, but like any team, there's continuity in certain parts. [Chris] Carpenter's back and [Adam] Wainwright's now back, [Yadier] Molina and [Allen] Craig and [Jon] Jay and all these young players that stepped up. Matt Holliday.

True, we've had some high-profile things. We haven't mentioned Albert, but I think you could call it that: a transitional year.

But that has a little bit of a negative connotation that you're not confident about winning or your expectations may not be as high, but I think, despite it being a transitional year, expectations are still appropriately high.

Q: What was your reaction when Albert Pujols made his decision to leave the Cardinals and sign with the Angels?

A: I think my initial reaction was one of modest surprise and initial disappointment and just a little bit of that feeling that that wasn't the optimal outcome.

I think it will work out in the end for the Cardinals, but I know our fans and those of us that are involved in the management still kind of feel like it's too bad that it didn't work out.

I think everybody understands why intellectually, but your heart still is a little bit disappointed.

Q: Why weren't Pujols and the Cardinals able the end up with that optimal outcome?

A: I don't want to speak for him, but I think that what we offered and what they offered -- there's a big difference there. I think our fans understood that what our offer was was a stretch for us and that we gave it our best shot and that it just wasn't enough to get it done.

As far as his motives, I think he mentioned some things beyond just the money differences that they were feeling. We haven't really tried to dispute -- it's hard to dispute a feeling. [Laughs.]

'You make me feel like you're this or that.' If that's how you feel, that's how you feel. We definitely tried not to get too into the details of how we approached it on a personal level with him because my father and I both felt that would get into he said, she said pissing matching sort of stuff that wasn't going to do anybody any good.

Once the fallout occurred, we just let everyone make their decisions for themselves as far as whether there should be any blame to go around.

Q: What does Pujols' departure mean off the field for the Cardinals? He's been the face of the franchise, so how do you go about replacing him in that way?

A: One of the nice things that we have is the success to rely on. For example, some of our marketing materials -- one of our big initiatives this year is our packs, which we're selling five-game, 10-game packs. Well last year, five-game packs were the Pujols packs and 10-game packs were the LaRussa packs.

The fact that we won the World Series really gives us almost a free pass for a year because we're doing some great giveaways associated with those where we're doing a World Series ring replica. We're doing a Freese MVP bobblehead. We're doing a championship banner giveaway. You get the idea.

We're able to market pretty easily this year off of the World Series championship. Had we not had that great result, it might have been a little bit more awkward where you're changing faces.

I think that the nice thing is, at least for this year, we're able to switch gears marketing wise and it doesn't seem contrived or forced.

The other thing I would mention is that any fan that was on that ride that we were on recognizes that the contributions that made it happen were from all up and down the roster.

Albert had a nice series and he had a great single game for sure, but in terms of 'How did we do this?' Freese and Jay and Carpenter and Molina and just up and down that list there were guys that did amazing things to get us there.