Matheny Manifesto by Mike Matheny

The few choices for Christian fiction were books I had read before so I choose this nonfiction by Mike Matheny, retired catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Matheny Manifesto started as a letter to local parents who asked him to coach their youth baseball team. My grandsons play baseball, soccer, and basketball. Some coaches were good and some coaches were less than stellar. Through Matheny’s experiences as a young player, through his college, and Major League career he has formulated a plan for parents to help their children be successful and enjoy the game as good sportsmen. Matheny dedicated chapter 6 titled What a Great Coach Looks to John Wooden including six pages of JOHN WOODEN’S MAXIMS.  Wooden is one of the few sports figures I recognize and that is only because I downloaded an e-book of his quotes for my lectures on the Christian life. Honestly I cannot name any pitcher or quarterback or basketball player this year or any other season. Truly I am not a fan of sports unless my grandsons are playing. That said Mike Matheny is the kind of coach I wish my boys could play for. He does not play favorites and he does what is best for the team. Matheny’s book is divided into three sections, the third titled THE KEYS TO SUCCESS. The eight keys are Leadership, Confidence, Teamwork, Faith, Class, Character, Toughness, and Humility. Each chapter has a catchy title: one of my favorites is “The Coach is Always Right-Even When He’s Wrong.” One of my favorite things about Matheny was his demand for players to respect the umpire, the coach, and other players. BTW Matheny posted a lifetime batting mark of .239 with 67 home runs and 443 RBI in 1,305 games. He holds the Major League catching record for consecutive errorless games (252). I was very impressed with all his accomplishments, but most of all that he was a Christian and unashamed for all to know.

I was given this book for my honest review by Blogging for Books.