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.
