Todd Helton’s voodoo doll comes through! From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar.
Wayne Hagin, who was hired three seasons ago to replace Jack Buck after the legendary Cards broadcaster died, has been fired.
He™ll be replaced by John Rooney (above), a former St. Louis sportscaster who has spent the last 18 years broadcasting the Chicago White Sox on radio. Rooney will work with Mike Shannon, who will be back for his 35th season on the air.
Rooney was the first choice for the job after Buck’s death, when it was decided that Joel Meyers — who had filled in during 2002 — would not be the full-time replacement.
But Rooney was under contract with the White Sox, and the search turned elsewhere. Hagin, who had been with the Colorado Rockies, ended up with the job.
“It™s the age old line — you don™t want to be the guy taking over for the guy, but you want to be the guy taking over for the guy who took over for the guy,” Joe Buck said. “That™s the nature of it.”
The next time Will Leitch reminds us that St. Louis is the best baseball town in America, try to humor him. With the city’s status as the Gonorrhea Capitol of America now confirmed, Cards fans need something positive to cling to.