About 30 minutes into his Jan. 17 workout, Mike Matheny knew something was wrong. The former St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals manager could not open his eyes by the time his wife arrived. He was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Doctors told Matheny that if he had gone home and laid down like he initially planned to, he would not have woken up.
He also later learned that half the people with a subarachnoid hemorrhage don’t make it to the hospital. A third of those who get to the hospital never leave, and another third suffer permanent brain damage. Matheny was thankfully able to avoid all those outcomes, but the challenges did not end there.
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Once he was cleared by doctors at the Mayo Clinic, Matheny went to visit family in Arkansas. They were building a house on a lake and while Matheny was there, a tornado ripped off the house’s roof.
Publicly sharing about his experiences for the first time last week on Sports Spectrum’s “Get in the Game” podcast, Matheny emphasized the important role his faith in God plays in the way he views the adversity he encounters.
“I don’t believe that I’m immune to life because I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, but what I am going to tell you is that I’m the recipient of a peace, I’m the recipient of a grace and a goodness and a love that I don’t deserve, that shows its face so much more in these times of things that we don’t want going on,” he said on the podcast.
“There’s no explanation to it.”
In today’s conversation on “Get in the Game” @ScottLinebrink talks with @mikematheny22 about his playing career, coaching, sharing his faith and overcoming difficult circumstances.https://t.co/AbR1sTMlk6 pic.twitter.com/usJQSdd6P7
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) July 26, 2024
Born into a family of believers, Matheny grew up going to church multiple times a week. He knew the Bible stories and the words to most of the hymns they’d sing, but was challenged by a pastor during a revival to define who Jesus was to him. The question prompted him to ask his parents, who walked him through the Romans Road to Salvation.
Matheny grew up to spend 13 seasons playing in the big leagues with four different teams, and later became the Cardinals’ manager in 2012. While on live television helping present Gold Glove awards, he got a call from St. Louis GM John Mozeliak asking him to interview for the position. With no professional coaching experience on his resume, Matheny was honored just to get an interview. He had complete confidence in God’s plan, whatever it wound up being.
“I just had that peace that passes all understanding when I walked into that interview knowing that if this is a God thing, nothing’s going to get in His way,” he said on the podcast. “I think that peace allowed me to kind of have a freedom to be honest and to be candid.”
He got the job and became the first manager in MLB history to lead a team to the playoffs each of his first four years. Matheny made a concerted effort to honor God with the leadership role he’d been blessed with. As part of his commitment, he would lead his team in prayer on opening day.
“My commitment was, this is a gift,” he said on the podcast. “It is a God thing that I can’t explain, except for the fact that now I have to be obedient, and I need to be faithful.”
Matheny led St. Louis to the World Series in 2013 but was fired in 2018. The Royals hired him in 2020, and he went 165-219 in three seasons before being let go. As he figures out what the Lord has in store for him next, Matheny strives to live in a way that is consistent with what he believes.
“I want the pictures of my life and the words that I say and the words of God’s truth, I want there to be synergy there,” he said on the podcast. “I want those to match up. I believe that’s probably the best testimony you can share with somebody.”
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