The “we” caught me.
There were some “ours,” too, scattered on Saturday. They were probably inadvertent. But the pronouns were pronounced — it’s all so fresh that Mike Matheny occasionally spoke as if he’s still the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Matheny made a public appearance Saturday morning at Six Flags, speaking on Christian Family Day, 35 days after he was fired. He was gracious and classy on stage, speaking for 45 minutes at the Palace Theatre. And as he shared stories of his up-and-down managerial career, you could literally hear a roller-coaster.
“I’m surprised you didn’t take off and run,” he joked to the audience of families and fans at the amusement park. “I just want to tell you that it’s been a pleasure (speaking). I love St. Louis. This is home, it’s always going to be home. The people are near and dear to me. I look forward to what God has in store next.”
Before the keynote speaker spoke, folks filtered into the lobby of the theatre. The birds on the bat spread across some shirseys, while on one woman’s shirt were the words: “LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE.” About 60 people arrived for the event, which required a ticket for admission, and the people lined the first five rows of the big theater in anticipation.
“I’ve seen Mike speak before, and I’ve always been a fan of him,” said Mike Heard, who attended the event with his wife, Becky. “I appreciate his integrity, and he’s not afraid to be who he is as a Christian. Again, I think he does a great job because he lives by example.
“A perfect example of that is when they fired him. They brought him in after a loss and fired him and he took it the way that we all should — if we’re not doing what we’re expected to do, and at that level, you’re expected to win at a high level. People paid money to go watch something on the field. I think what he did was the right thing — a lot of folks go out and badmouth, but he used it as an opportunity to set the next chapter o The timing of the event seemed curious if only because, since the Cardinals fired Matheny, they have been the best team in baseball. Would a public appearance seem premature? And Saturday also was the Cardinals’ annual Hall of Fame celebration, with the red coats and all that. It’s a popular, family-friendly event in the afternoon, before the night game. So families couldn’t do a day at both Six Flags and Ballpark Village. But there are only a certain amount of summer Saturdays on the calendar, so Six Flags scheduled this one as Christian Family Day.
Before being fired in July, Mike Matheny spent about seven years as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
A little after 10 a.m, a gleeful woman with the microphone came on stage: “I’d really like for everybody to put their hands together and welcome our four-time Gold Glove-winning catcher and former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Mike Matheny!”
And there he was, back in the spotlight circling him on the stage, in front of a red backdrop curtain. He wore a white striped dress shirt, tucked into navy dress pants. He was clean-shaven, his dark hair slicked back.
He opened with an anecdote about an amusement park. As a 15-year-old, he yearned to have a car to drive his buddies to the Six Flags of his youth. Dad said he’d think about it, but only if Mike did three things: Improve his grades … help out more around the house … and cut that hair. The teenager did the first two.
“And I said to my father, ‘As a Christian man, I know you would understand this, and I did a little research myself,’” Matheny said Saturday. “‘And as far as I can tell, Jesus had long hair.’ And without missing a beat, my dad said, ‘Yes, son, Jesus did have long hair — and he walked everywhere he went.’”
Matheny spoke passionately about his faith, describing how people have what he called “a mission field” — and the mission field he was called to “just happened to have dirt and four bases.”
Nineteen minutes in, he made his first reference to losing his job.
“I enjoyed (managing) far more than I ever knew I would, more than actually playing the game,” he said. “Especially for a team like the St. Louis Cardinals, such a special organization. To be in a spot that it’s not about me and my stats — it’s about serving other people. And what a joy that was for 6½ years, and really, the job description, it’s a lot about baseball and people love nitpicking all the little decisions we make and don’t make, but what that job comes down to is — loving and serving and challenging and equipping people. And that’s what I love about it. And that’s why I’m so excited to see what the next chapter brings.
Mike Matheny said “I enjoyed (managing) far more than I ever knew I would, more than actually playing the game.”
“I will coach. I don’t know if I’m going to coach guys who are at the very, very top level or I’m going to coach tee-ballers, I don’t really care — I’m going to see where He has me go, and until that point I want to take advantage of the opportunity He gives me like this one.”
Matheny spoke of the criticism he received this season: “I’m getting hammered in every direction — every decision I make, whether it works or not, somebody locally is giving me the business about it. And it started weighing heavy. It’s not something I could not just ignore — you take it personally when you care about what you do. I’ll never forget, I had a really good coach that I have deep respect for. He called me up and said: ‘You’ve got to do one thing in times like these. Just keep doing the next right thing.’ And absolutely that was the answer that I needed at that time.”
Matheny shared touching stories about Willie McGee and David from the Books of Samuel and George Kissell and Jesus Christ — “the greatest leader of all time,” he said. The enraptured Six Flags audience snapped pictures. Becky Heard took notes. A tiny blonde girl, as tall as the stage itself, walked up while holding up a phone recording video. One family was listening so intently, the parents didn’t walk their noisy baby outside for a moment.
Matheny made occasional references to “our coaching staff” and “our guys.” Asked by an audience member “how many players on the team are Christians?” Matheny responded: “We probably have a stronger chaplain group than any team in baseball.”
At times, the speech felt like the opposite of a “soft opening” of a restaurant — a soft closing.
When it was over, his fans gave him one last standing ovation.
“I’m really impressed with him,” Becky Heard said. “That’s why we came today, to go see him speak. And go on a roller-coaster.”
Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
An “online exclusive” is an article or story that does not run in the print edition of the Houston Herald. Typically 2-3 are posted online every Wednesday morning. It’s another feature designed for users who purchase full web access from the Herald.
Click here to subscribe for print, digital or both.