He accepted a job with the St. Louis Cardinals as hitting coach for the Memphis Redbirds in . From there, he moved to minor league hitting coordinator in . Midway through the season, he was promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals as hitting coach. He remained with the club through the 2004 World Series, but left the post immediately afterwards to enter an alcohol treatment facility near his Oakland, California home. The Cards batted just .190 in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.