I interviewed Mike Matheny in 2005 when he was playing for the San Francisco Giant. I was impressed by the inscription on the stand that held a baseball in his locker: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Known as an MLB manager to many fans (St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals, 2012-2022), Mike Matheny also played the game, catching in the major leagues for 13 seasons (1994-2006). Mike Matheny made his mark as a catcher, earning four Gold Gloves and owning the catching record of 1,565 consecutive fielding chances without an error (does not include passed balls).
Matheny told me his “true joy” came behind the plate, working with the pitcher. He called the pitcher and catcher’s duel with the batter “the game within the game.” Here’s an example.
The dangerous Ryan Klesko was at the plate for the San Diego Padres at the top of the eighth inning, with men on first and second, two outs, and the Padres leading the San Francisco Giants 5-3. A hit by Klesko could break the game wide open. The count went to 3-1, and then Klesko fouled off a pitch. Giants’ catcher Mike Matheny took the opportunity to visit relief pitcher Scott Eyre on the mound. After the visit, Eyre busted a 3-2 curveball, Klesko swung and missed, and the Padre’s threat was over.
But that’s not the whole story. When Matheny returned from that mound visit, he never signaled for the next pitch because he did not want to give the runner on second base a chance to steal the signal and relay it to Klesko. So, when Matheny went to the mound, he told Eyre to throw a curveball on the next pitch.
While Matheny was not well known for his offense, he was a clutch hitter and a tough out. Here are two examples. The Giants trailed the Brewers in the ninth inning and desperately needed a base runner. Matheny came to the plate and fouled off half a dozen consecutive pitches before being hit by a pitch to get on base. Then, a week later, he hit a solo home run to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.
“I want to get the big hits,” Matheny says. “I want to contribute in the small ways — get the guy over, get the bunt down, get that big RBI.”
Matheny did just that. He had a good major league career, playing for four teams: Brewers (1994-1998), Blue Jays (1999), Cardinals (2000-2004), and Giants (2005-2006). The pinnacle came when the Cardinals went to the 2004 World Series, but the team lost four straight games to the Red Sox.
“It was disappointing that we didn’t play the kind of baseball that we knew we could play,” Matheny says of the World Series. But he was glad to make it to the Fall Classic. “I know a lot of people that have had much better careers than I’ve had and have never had that opportunity, so I feel very grateful for it.”
In addition to his catching ability and clutch hitting, Matheny was also a clubhouse leader. An example is what happened as soon as Matheny became a Giant. In spring training, pitchers regularly stopped by his locker to talk baseball. In a game, Scott Eyre told the San Francisco Chronicle that “he (Matheny) “called a couple of 3-2 curveballs that I hadn’t thrown in a while, and I was thinking, ‘Are you serious?’ Okay, here it goes. You throw confidently because he puts his finger down and pulls it away before you can say no.”
With the mark of an authentic leader, the only person who does not see Matheny as a leader is Matheny. “I don’t necessarily claim to be a leader,” he says. “I think a lot of times the people that do are those who aren’t. I see myself as a servant, a helper to these guys, seeing how I can give them the best chance to succeed.”
His humble attitude stems from his Christian faith, which he says he puts “in the center of everything.” He grew up in a Christian home but learned that he had to enter into his relationship with God. “Often, you grow up in a Christian home; the whole process becomes a religion instead of a personal faith. It did for me, even at an early age. I realized that I was missing something; something wasn’t quite right. I explain to kids that just because you’re born in a garage doesn’t make you a car. The same thing goes for your faith. I got challenged one night in a revival in a church in Columbus, Ohio. Regardless of our position in the church, the pastor was telling each of us where we stand with Jesus. Who is He to us individually? And I realized it was just a name and a ritual, going to church, standing up, singing the songs. I was eight years old, but old enough to know God was talking right to me. I went home, asked many questions, and I remember my parents leading me to Christ, kneeling in front of our couch.”
Matheny in 2005 as a San Francisco Giant (photo courtesy SFGate)
He was the captain of the baseball and football teams at Reynoldsburg High in Ohio, but his faith lay dormant. Matheny says he was a “closet Christian” during that time.
“There was a period in high school and college when I went under the radar,” he says. ”It wasn’t until minor league baseball that I was challenged to step out and be bold in my faith.” He came to see baseball as a mission field, where he could be a witness “not necessarily to the masses, but more importantly to the guys in the clubhouse.”
Matheny does not preach at his teammates but says he tries to “keep it real” by building friendships so they can “find out who Christ is and that He can change lives, and there is a better way out there than what this world offers.”
Years ago, Tony La Russa, Matheny’s former manager at St. Louis, was confident that Matheny would make a great manager. La Russa hit the target: Matheny’s managing record of 1450 wins and a .522 winning percentage speaks for itself.
