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The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager's Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life Kindle Edition

by Mike Matheny (Author), Jerry B. Jenkins (Author), Bob Costas (Afterword) Format: Kindle Edition

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St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny's New York Times bestselling manifesto about what parents, coaches, and athletes get wrong about sports; what we can do better; and how sports can teach eight keys to success in sports and life.

Mike Matheny was just forty-one, without professional managerial experience and looking for a next step after a successful career as a Major League catcher, when he succeeded the legendary Tony La Russa as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. While Matheny has enjoyed immediate success, leading the Cards to the postseason four times in his first four years−a Major League record−people have noticed something else about his life, something not measured in day-to-day results. Instead, it’s based on a frankly worded letter he wrote to the parents of a Little League team he coached, a cry for change that became an Internet sensation and eventually a “manifesto.”

The tough-love philosophy Matheny expressed in the letter contained his throwback beliefs that authority should be respected, discipline and hard work rewarded, spiritual faith cultivated, family made a priority, and humility considered a virtue. In The Matheny Manifesto, he builds on his original letter by first diagnosing the problem at the heart of youth sports−it starts with parents and coaches−and then by offering a hopeful path forward. Along the way, he uses stories from his small-town childhood as well as his career as a player, coach, and manager to explore eight keys to success: leadership, confidence, teamwork, faith, class, character, toughness, and humility.

From “The Coach Is Always Right, Even When He’s Wrong” to “Let Your Catcher Call the Game,” Matheny’s old-school advice might not always be popular or politically correct, but it works. His entertaining and deeply inspirational book will not only resonate with parents, coaches, and athletes, it will also be a powerful reminder, from one of the most successful new managers in the game, of what sports can teach us all about winning on the field and in life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Matheny Manifesto illustrates a perspective we need not only in youth sports, but in our culture as a whole. By teaching the importance of respect, character, and a team-first approach, Mike Matheny gives our kids, and those who set an example for them, a positive outlook on healthy competition—and demonstrates how the most powerful lessons of baseball apply to their futures beyond the diamond.”
—Joe Torre

“Readers agree there are ‘must read ‘ books. The Matheny Manifesto, inspired by Mike's letter is one and much more. After you read it, you ‘must consider’ and then ‘must act’ on its core principles—principles that benefit coaches, parents, success seekers, and especially young players.”
—Tony La Russa

“You win, or in this case, lose, with class. With integrity. You play hard. You play smart. You respect yourself, your teammates, your opponents, and your craft. It’s a game and it should be fun. It’s a business, and those realities are there, too. But it can be more than just that. It can, at least for some, be an expression of principles…. In many ways, Matheny’s still new, but already extremely successful, tenure with the Cardinals is an ongoing example of those principles writ large.”
—From the afterword by Bob Costas

“I once told Mike Matheny that if I ever became a big league manager, I’d want to manage just like he does. The Matheny Manifesto will show you why. Mike approaches the game as the ultimate competitor, but totally with class and dignity.”
—Orel Hershiser, Los Angleles Dodgers broadcaster, 18-year big league pitcher, Cy Young Award winner, World Series champion

“The Matheny Manifesto is mandatory reading for coaches, parents, and athletes of every age. The book is packed with winning insights and practical advice for all to use. A powerful read!”
—Pat Williams, Orlando Magic co-founder and senior vice president

“Mike Matheny has some tremendous lessons for coaches but mostly for parents…. You’ve got to know someone who could use this book. You’ve got to know 10 people who could use this book. They’ll thank you for getting it.”
—Peter King

"Lots of coaches write inspirational books, but this one has a lot of interesting stuff in it...It's an important book."
—Mike Francesa

"A must read for parents, coaches, teachers all who work with young people"
—Jim Harbaugh

[The Matheny Manifesto] should be read by every parent of every youth league player in this country.
—Providence Journal

“Beautifully readable and morally meaty.”
—Christianity Today

“[T]his book should be read by anybody who coaches a kids team, as well as the parents of those kids.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Every parent who has a son or daughter that plays sports, dances, plays in the band, is in theater, or does anything as team or group, must read The Matheny Manifesto."
—Quad-Cities Online, The Dispatch

About the Author

Mike Matheny played thirteen years as a catcher for four Major League teams, won four Gold Gloves, and holds the MLB record for most consecutive games without an error. He was the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals for six seasons, leading the Cardinals to the postseason in each of his first four campaigns and winning the National League pennant in 2013. He and his wife, Kristin, are the parents of five and live in St. Louis. For more information about Mike’s Catch 22 Foundation, and to keep up with his blog, visit www.MikeMatheny.com.

Jerry B. Jenkins is the author of twenty New York Times bestsellers, including the Left Behind series. His writing has appeared in Time, Reader’s Digest, Parade, Guideposts, and dozens of Christian periodicals. He has collaborated on as-told-to autobiographies by Hank Aaron, Orel Hershiser, Walter Payton, Nolan Ryan, Mike Singletary, and Billy Graham. For more information about Jerry, visit www.JerryJenkins.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

Whatever Happened to the Love of the Game?

I’m a fierce competitor, and I don’t apologize for that. I want only that kind of player on my teams, too. But while coaching—and parenting—in youth sports, I have to keep that in its proper perspective. To create an atmosphere in which young people can reach their full potential, I must first make sure they develop a love and a passion for their sport, before any other lessons can be taught—including the will to win. Argue with me all you want, but I’m going from what I’m hearing from my current players, former coaches, and former teammates.

When I was a kid, we loved sports. We played baseball, basketball, and football because they were fun and we enjoyed them. Organized sports were great, but most of the time we played on our own. Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan has said that the difference between the way kids play today and the way he and his friends played is that now they only play with uniforms on.

Somehow, the more organized sports became, the more they became about the parents and not about the kids. All of a sudden, kids didn’t seem to love sports as much as I did when I was their age—and that’s something I thought needed to change.

My very first baseball memory was Wiffle ball in the backyard, baseball in its purest form. I was the third of four boys growing up in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. We played all sports, competed at everything, and like everyone else— probably including you—made up our own rules.

Mom tried to change those rules. She wanted to make every ball we hit over the fence a three-out infraction, since the neighbors always complained about us being in their yard. But what kid could ever follow that rule? Baseball is all about home runs and mimicking your favorite player, and in those days I was Tom Seaver when I pitched and Johnny Bench when I was at the plate.

Sometimes I would work on my left-handed swing so I could watch the ball bounce off the neighbors’ roof. My brothers and I would make sure Mom wasn’t watching before we hopped the fence to retrieve the only ball we had that wasn’t cracked.

Even though we aimed away from the house with the dog, that animal had a sporting goods store’s worth of our Wiffle balls. The Sandlot movie, which would come along a couple of years after I signed a pro contract, could have been our story. But none of us dared go to the door or jump that fence.

We talked our dad into putting up lights so that we could play at night, and often we played so late the neighbors yelled out their window that it was time for the game to be over.

It seemed my older brother Rusty could throw a Wiffle ball ninety miles an hour. He loved putting welts on my bare back, since pegging—throwing the runner out between bases by nailing him with the ball—was permitted. Mom tried to change that rule, too, to no avail.

I don’t know what your game looked like, but here are some more of our details:

• Rock, paper, scissors served as our review process.

• The tie always went to the runner.

• Appropriating Dad’s black electrical tape to give the skinny yellow bat a little more weight was deemed completely legal.

• The greatest accessory was a plastic helmet from your favorite team.

• A drive into the far corner of the yard was an easy double if you hustled out of the box.

• Second base was a Frisbee we hadn’t tossed for years.

• A worn patch of dirt served as home plate.

I fell in love with the game of baseball in that backyard before I ever wore a jersey or played on an official team. I learned base running, cutoffs and relays, rundowns, even bench-clearing brawls with my brothers and neighborhood kids.

My dad worked construction and my mom for a church missionary association, so there was never enough money for an Atari, Nintendo, or Xbox. I’m grateful, because if we’d had those, I might never have known what baseball was really all about.

We kept score but never remembered, dinner was an annoyance, and the end of summer was a tragedy.

One of the first things I did for my own kids was build them a Wiffle ball field on our property—backstop, bases, home-run fence, scoreboard, lights, sprinkler system, the whole bit. On their birthdays, our kids get to choose what we do, and almost without fail, even to this day, it includes Wiffle ball late into the night—sometimes until dawn. Big-league teams have played Wiffle ball at our place.

What I love about baseball has evolved over the years, though.

As a first-time player on an organized team, I loved a chocolate swirl ice cream cone with sprinkles at Dairy Queen after the game, even when we lost.

I later fell in love with playing in front of a crowd and the thrill of making a play.

Back then, fun trumped winning, and wearing the same jersey as your friends was the definition of success.

I loved the smell of the bubble gum you could get only at the ball field, and seeing how many pieces I could keep in my mouth during the game.

Over time and the onset of puberty, fun turned to ferocity, and testosterone made every game live or die. I learned how much it really meant to me when I couldn’t control the tears after letting a ball roll through my legs cost my team the game.

I soon realized the sport had changed for me. Far beyond a source of joy and a sense of accomplishment, it came to define my social status. Baseball became part of who I was—not just how others saw me, but how I viewed myself. Its heroes, past and present, became like Greek gods, and getting even a glimpse of them in person was surreal.

I’ll never forget getting to travel and seeing how I matched up to the talent in other areas, finding out how much more work I had to do. How exciting, that first out-of-town trip without my family, my first night in a hotel with a bunch of kids too rowdy to sleep—or let anyone else for that matter.

I loved using a hose to fill my jug that needed to last an entire day, showing up early to rake the infield, praying it wouldn’t rain, enjoying a Snickers bar as a between-games meal, and being covered with dirt from head to toe.

Who can forget discovering you’re on the local scouts’ radar and have a legitimate chance to play a game that can pay for your education, are you kidding me? What’s not to love about showing up on a college campus and joining a team of guys you’ve never met but you know already have your back?

Why did I come to love baseball?

The game became the pacesetter for my life. What could top:

Lying in bed at the University of Michigan, dreaming of playing professionally, earning a degree along the way because you can catch and throw.

Getting an actual check for signing your name, just because you have potential.

Waking up every day knowing you have a chance to improve your odds of making it to the Show, and realizing you actually play every single day.

Now occasionally praying for rain so your body can recoup.

Getting the call that tells you your lifelong dream has come true and you’ve become one of the select few who ever make it.

Sharing a locker room with superstars and future Hall of Famers and finding yourself in the same lineup.

Getting paid to play a game—well enough to get a great start in life.

Asking for autographs from legends, and having them actually engage you in conversation as if you’re in the same fraternity—because you are.

Truly realizing the depth of your love for the game by how you feel when it’s taken from you—twice.

Getting another chance to chase the dream and actually experience a winning season.

Feeling the buzz of the crowd in the postseason and the month-long celebration known as October baseball.

Stepping up to the plate in the World Series and facing the best of the best on the baseball world’s biggest stage.

Having hung in there long enough for your kids to get to walk onto a major-league field and understand the passion the fans hold for this great game and its players.

And finally to watch the sun set on a career some believed would never happen, and to humbly, silently say, “I told you I could.”

Maybe my wife, Kristin, and John and Ann Mabry were the only three parents who could truly understand where I was coming from that night, a true lover of baseball standing before them and reading what otherwise had to sound like a very strange letter. I was no guru, hardly a know-it-all, and I certainly didn’t want to come across as a Little League dictator.

But neither did I have any interest in being involved in a youth baseball program that disgraced the game that had virtually been my life and helped shape my character. Ironically, if I had learned anything from baseball, from all the coaching and the training and the practices and the development, it was that so much more went into making a child an adult than teaching them athletic skills and how to win games.

In the few short decades since my childhood, I had seen a shocking shift in the values and actions of parents and coaches that I believed made it nearly impossible for the youth of today to love the game the way I do. If I was right, youth sports was long overdue for an overhaul of business as usual.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00MKZ9AYA
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown; Reprint edition (February 3, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 3, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 679 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 225 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 055344672X

Best Sellers Rank: #491,410 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #24 in Baseball Coaching (Kindle Store)
- #131 in Baseball Biographies (Kindle Store)
- #163 in Baseball Coaching (Books)

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4.7 1,209 ratings

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Mike Matheny

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Michael Scott Matheny (born September 22, 1970) is an American former professional baseball catcher and the current manager of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB), a position he has held since 2012. A product of the University of Michigan, Matheny was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round of the 1991 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut for the Brewers in 1994 and retired in 2006 with the San Francisco Giants. He also played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Cardinals during his thirteen-year catching career.

Though not a prodigious hitter, Matheny was one of the most accomplished defensive catchers of his era, winning four Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. Further, he established major league records among catchers for consecutive games played without committing an error (252), and consecutive chances fielded without an error (1,565). Matheny is one of only three Major League catchers with an errorless season of at least 100 games, and he set a Giants single-season team record in 2005 for catcher's fielding percentage at .999. He retired from playing due to persisting concussion symptoms, and has since become an advocate for its prevention and for improved catcher safety.

After his playing career, Matheny coached Little League Baseball. The Cardinals hired him to manage following the 2011 season in spite of having no previous professional experience. In 2015, he became the first manager in MLB history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, and, in 2014, just the fifth to a League Championship Series appearance in each of his first three. His furthest title claim occurred in 2013, when the Cardinals won the National League pennant, only to fall to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Johnmaxmena2 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Star Quest

Fantastic Book!

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2016

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Absolutely fantastic book! I am a huge baseball fan and I remember watching Mike Matheny as a player, he was a work horse. Although not a hall of famer, as a former catcher, he understands the game and what it takes to win. Interestingly enough this book is not about winning but about having the right attitude. Matheny is a Christian and not afraid to stand his ground on his beliefs while at the same time being very respectful of others and their beliefs. Matheny was a youth league coach prior to becoming the Cardinals manager. His position on how overbearing and over involved parents have become in their children’s sports leagues inspired him to write the Matheny Manifesto, a roughly five page narrative that he wrote to the parents of the children he was coaching to give him the room to mentor and teach their kids during their practices and games without heckling, yelling, and interfering. In other words, let the coaches do their jobs during the two hours that you have entrusted your kids to them.

It’s incredible these days how intense parents have become in youth league sports, yelling at umpires and coaches as well as their children when they either make mistakes or over achieve. Some kids become embarrassed and no longer want to play, treating a game that they enjoyed more like a chore to satisfy their parents who are vicariously living through them. Obviously it’s not all parents but there are enough of them that have created a toxic atmosphere in the realm of youth sports and I am glad Matheny chose to address this issue in a professional but firm manner.

Matheny also shares his personal story about the journey to becoming a professional baseball player and it was very inspirational. It takes an incredible amount of work, dedication, talent, and skill to get to the big league level. I think in our society today, we are inundated with media stories about how much athletes get paid and this has a very intense impact on parents who want their kids to play sports and pursue a professional career not realizing just how difficult that and stressful that is.

Matheny also focuses a lot on servant leadership and being a good mentor to his players both younger and older. At the end of the day, he coached youth league sports to teach young players about life skills such as team work, showing up, and staying positive no matter what circumstances occur. Carrying yourself in a cool, calm, and collected manner is paramount to success. There is a lot that a reader can take away from this book. It has had a very profound impact on my life, causing me to rethink some of my choices. My respect for Mike Matheny and the St. Louis Cardinals has skyrocketed. I wish the best for him, his family, and the Cardinals and am very grateful for his book. Thank you, Mike.

9 people found this helpful

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Chad

Not wanting to be like every other little league coach

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2016

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Let me start off by saying that I am a true blue Los Angeles Dodgers fan. The St. Louis Cardinals have been a thorn in the Dodger’s side for years. Both organizations are successful and respected. In my life time the Dodgers have faced the Cardinals in the postseason five times, the Dodgers have lost four of the five match ups. Therefore, I know the risk I was running being a Dodger fan, reading a book by the current Cardinal manager, Mike Matheny.

All joking aside, I have a lot of respect for the Cardinals. I have a lot of respect for Tony LaRussa and I have read two books about his baseball managing career. Matheny had some big shoes to fill in 2012, when LaRussa led the Cardinals back from their final strike (twice) to win the World Series, but he has succeeded taking the Cardinals to the playoffs each season as manager.

When Matheny was chosen as manager of the reigning World Series team, many were puzzled. Matheny had no managerial experience. He was only six years removed from his playing career, which was shut down abruptly by health issues relating to recurring concussion symptoms.

But Matheny is strong leader with strong values. Ultimately, The Matheny Manifesto is an account of Matheny’s values that he integrates into his life. The manifesto originated when he was asked to manage youth baseball. Not wanting to be like every other little league coach, Matheny wrote out demands for himself, his staff, his players, and most importantly, the parents. He wanted to create a team of character. He wanted to create a team known for integrity and hard work. He did not care about winning. Winning happens when you do everything right.

This is a great book. It should be required reading for anyone thinking about coach youth sports.

9 people found this helpful

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Tim Williams

Big Thoughts for Little Leaguers

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2015

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“The Matheny Manifesto” is easy-to-read food for thought for little leaguers and their parents, and it has some stuff that will be of interest to other baseball fans, as well. The book begins with the author reading a letter, containing his philosophy of youth baseball, to a group of about 20 parents of little leaguers. The author didn’t think it was being received very well when “…after several agonizing seconds, one of the fathers surprised me by saying, ‘Well, I’m in.’” Later, the letter went viral and the book is an amplification of the letter with illustrations from the author’s experience as a major league catcher. The book is sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes humorous, sometimes puzzling, sometimes harrowing and, only occasionally, clichéd. The book is a good place to start in thinking about improving youth sports, although it left me with many questions. An example of the humor is “What can a man do who can’t see, can’t think, can’t remember? My only option was to become an umpire.” Some examples of puzzling passages would be:
• “We may not win every game, but we will be the classiest coaches, players, and parents at every game we play.” How does this goal relate to the goal of humility? Wouldn’t it be more humble to aim to be the classiest people that we can be? Also, what exactly is meant by “classiest”?
• “As a professional, I agree with the late Vince Lombardi’s adage, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” But it’s flat wrong to apply that to the amateur level. That’s no way to develop kids, but it’s a sure bet to eliminate sportsmanship, if that’s your aim.” This seems to contradict the author’s statements elsewhere about sportsmanship and character being important for professionals as well as kids. Does it depend on how “winning” is defined?
• “Now, before you slam this book shut and label me just another turn-the-other-cheek Bible-thumper, hear me out. I don’t apologize for being a Bible guy. But I also believe strongly in standing up for those entrusted to my care and fighting for what is right. I believe too many men fail to fight for the things we should fight for, like our families, our marriages, and our faith.” I don’t think that turning the other cheek is the part of the Bible that Bible-thumpers are usually identified with, but how does this text relate to how we fight for what is right? What are our weapons? Sometimes, the book seems to endorse a kind of chip-on-the-shoulder machismo that is quick to resort to physical confrontation if someone disses one of our guys. I don’t think the author intends to communicate this, but it’s an example of some puzzling parts of the book.

One of my favorite things about the book was reading about one of my childhood heroes, Bill “Bull” Freehan. His advice to the author about calling pitches and Spanish was fascinating. Also, there is an interesting “Afterword” by Bob Costas. Good for extra bases.

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Top reviews from other countries

EdMonton11

I’m a Better Dad Because of This Book

Reviewed in Canada on January 13, 2023

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Required reading for any athlete over 12 years old, and coach and any sports parent! A little heavy on the religious side of things at times but that’s the perspective of the author and in no way diminishes the value of the message. It’s an easy 2 day read.

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent book. This guy is in it for the kids. Great values

Stella W.

This is the blueprint for coaching kids

Reviewed in Canada on October 27, 2020

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Easy to read: how to coach kids, great anecdotes. One chapter is very religious - I skipped it and I am guessing most people who want to skip it will.

H. Dyck

Very Good Book

Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2017

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I feel guilty only giving this book 4-stars. I love the reason for this book and the message that Mr. Matheny is projecting.
The reason I'm only giving it 4/5 stars is that I wish the book focused more on the youth team he agreed to manage.
I would have loved more examples of how he was able to apply his principal's throughout the season.
However, maybe it's I who is missing the point of the book. I purchased it solely for the purpose of helping myself stay focused during my own son's sporting experiences - either as a spectator or a coach. And in that, the book succeeds.
Mr. Matheny does a great job of emphasising that as a coach, we need to remember that our primary objective is to make sure we're developing good young men and woman who treat people well regardless if things go your way or not.
Learning and loving a sport is important as well, as long as we're doing it the right way. And as the great coach Wooden said, 'winning is the icing'.

Ronald Truant

An Inspiring return to basics! A must read for patents of young children!

Reviewed in Canada on May 10, 2015

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An inspiring return to basics. Points made in this book is how my family was raised - strong values, respect for others, teamwork and professionalism? Bravo to the author. He articulates well, what all od
F us are thinking. I recommend this book not only for coaches but for parents and grand parents. The roght way to raise children, to teach strong values and motivate excellence in the future.

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