ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - As the Cardinals prepared to go for a potential sweep of the Oakland Athletics, Marmol only had one real thought on his mind: remembering Whitey Herzog.
Tuesday was a sad day for not only the Cardinals, but for all the baseball world when news spread of the death of World Series-winning manager and innovator of "Whitey Ball"
Tributes poured from those his former players, players that didn't get to play with him, and those that got to know him over the years.
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said that while he had to focus on the game on Tuesday that the Cardinals eventually won 3-2 against the A's, the thought of the loss of Herzog still crawled into his head heading into the game.
"It was a sad day. Whitey was always good to me," said Marmol on Total Information A.M. Wednesday. "When I got the job, he reached out. Anytime he was at (Busch Stadium), he stopped by the office and we would talk a little bit or at a charity event. I really enjoyed the conversations man."
Herzog was one of the many great Cardinals managers that was a part of the franchise over their history. Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, Billy Southworth, Herzog and Rogers Hornsby being just some of the past Cardinals managers who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Marmol says Herzog's death made him think of the rich history of managers that the Cardinals have had in their history and he wants to carry on it.
Marmol says he was able to talk to his predecessors like La Russa about the responsibilities about being the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and he understands that weight that is on his shoulders.
"To talk to (La Russa) about the responsibility and experience the ups and downs and how he handled that, it's a rich history and it's rich for a reason," said Marmol. "I take it serious and I want to carry that on."