"The Matheny Manifesto" by Mike Matheny

I was intrigued the moment I heard about Mike Matheny's new book, which is subtitled "A Young Manager's Old-School Views On Success In Sports And Life." Not only am I a St. Louis Cardinals fan, I'm also a teacher who is very much interested in helping every young person in my path grow up to be a man or woman of character and faith. I found "The Matheny Manifesto" to be a wonderful and engaging read, for which some credit must go to co-author Jerry Jenkins, and it's one that I would heartily recommend to baseball fans, coaches, parents, and anyone looking to impact the next generation in a positive way.

The book's title came from a letter Matheny wrote to a group of parents who asked him to coach their sons in a youth league after Matheny's professional career as a catcher came to an end. Before he would accept the job, Matheny wanted to outline exactly what his goals and intentions were for the parents and the team, just in case his old-school values would make them want to rescind the coaching offer in the first place. Somewhat to his surprise, the parents did get on board and nicknamed his letter "The Matheny Manifesto." Thus began a character-building youth sports program in the St. Louis area, and the unconventional training and results were soon gaining a good reputation around the area.

I enjoyed the way Matheny wove his own life story through the pages. He talked about his upbringing with hard-working parents and competitive brothers, his own experience in various youth leagues, his college years, the ups and downs of a professional career, how he dealt with the injuries that finally forced his retirement, and his utter surprise at even being considered for the managerial position when the St. Louis Cardinals called him for an interview in 2012. His personal Christian faith is a recurring theme, even sharing his salvation testimony and spelling out the Romans Road. This is a man who is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I wanted to stand up and cheer every time Matheny spoke of the impact that teachers and coaches should be consciously aware of having over their young people. As he states on page 53, "We've been given the rare privilege and heavy responsibility of influencing young people on a daily basis, for better or for worse, for the rest of their lives." He expounds further on page 74: "...Our own kids and the kids we teach and coach [are] looking for someone to stand up for what is right and make a difference in their lives."  I don't know about you, but I want to be that positive difference!

Matheny's passion for living and playing the right way comes through loud and clear as he highlights his keys to success, which are leadership, confidence, teamwork, faith, class, character, toughness, and humility. If I had to pick a favorite among those, I would probably pick the one on character. I really enjoyed all of them, but that one stood out to me.

There's so much more I could say, but my recommendation would be that if this book interests you at all, you should to find a way to read it. I don't think you'll be disappointed! Please check out this link for more information, or click here to see what FOX Sports has to say about it.

I received my copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.