When I picked up The Matheny Manifesto, written by the St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny, I expected to read a book primarily about baseball. Instead, I read a powerful book talking about success, leadership, and life. The book starts with Matheny, a former major league player, talking about a “manifesto” he wrote before coaching his son’s baseball team. In the manifesto, he tells parents how the team would not just be about baseball skills, but about character-building and classiness. Matheny’s approach was to have the team be child-centric instead of parent-centric.

In the book, I enjoyed reading about Matheny’s baseball experiences, especially how he would play baseball in his yard with his brothers as a child. I liked how he discussed his Christian faith and included specific verses about salvation. Additionally, the section where he talked about John Wooden’s words of wisdom was great. Matheny’s approach (in baseball and life) comes across as “no-nonsense,” so it would be interesting to see how his approach differs with other baseball managers.

One of the great things about this book is that it emphasizes that baseball and other sports are not about winning, but about loving the game and maintaining high character. As the old adage says, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.” This book demonstrates that Mike Matheny plays the game very well.

I received a copy from Blogging for Books. You can find the book here on Amazon.