A Defensive Gem

Name: Mike Matheny

Card Company: Topps

Year: 2004

Team: St. Louis Cardinals

Bats/Throws: R

Ht: 6'3

Mike Matheny right now is known as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, who lead them to a NL pennant in 2012. But before that he was a Gold Glove winning catcher that played for 4 teams in his 13-year career. Catchers like him often get put on the bench because being a defensive specialist is often looked down upon in MLB circles. While offense usually gets all the love, today we focus on one of the best defensive specialist of recent times Mike Matheny.

Matheny was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988, but turned them down to play college ball at the University of Michigan. In 1991, he was selected in the 8th round of the MLB free-agent draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, where he would eventually sign. Spending close to 4 years in their minor league system, Matheny would eventually make his debut in 1994 where he played

in only 26 games. Finally earning a starting gig in 1996 he would continue to be Milwaukee’s starting catcher until 1998 when he was granted free agency. In that 1998 season Matheny was struck in the face by a pitch, as the trainers rushed out to him he spitted up blood but never fell down on the ground.

He would then proceed to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999, where he served as Darrin Fletcher protégé. However, the apprenticeship didn’t last long as he was released the following year and he once again was out of a job. Despite showing promise as a defensive specialist, the Blue Jays released him because of the emphasis that was put on the offensive side of the ball. You see this a lot in Toronto today, just look at Jose Bautista for example. He can’t field worth a lick, but because he can hit homeruns while batting close to .250 a year he is a considered a valuable asset. In my humble opinion, Jose Bautista is more of an ass than asset.

In 2000 Matheny would sign on with the St. Louis Cardinals, and

with them he would finally get his chance to show his value. In his first season with the Cardinals he would win his first Gold Glove while setting career highs in batting average (.261) and OBP (.317). In that season, he would throw out 53% of would be base stealers, when the NL average was 32%. His defense helped the Cardinals move from 4th to 1st in the Central, and the Cardinals rewarded him by signing him to a 3-year $9-million contract. He would stay with the Cardinals for another 4 years winning two more Gold Gloves in 2003 and 2004. And in that 2004 season he would mentor another up and coming defensive stud in Yadier Molina, and after the 2004 season the Cardinals moved on from Matheny choosing to move forward with Yadier Molina.

Matheny would go on two play two more years with the San Francisco Giants signing with them in 2005. In his first season with the Giants he would win his fourth and final Gold Glove award, while setting a new career high in homeruns with 13. However, Matheny would suffer from concussion like symptoms the following year and would be forced to retire. Matheny would make his return to baseball in 2012 to take over for a retiring Tony La Russa. He still to this day is the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Matheny has also become an activist for catcher safety, championing the rule change that sought out to limit the number of home-plate collisions. Now while the “old-school” people might hate this rule consider this, not only does this rule help extend the careers of catchers but it also eliminates a needlessly dangerous part of the game. Buster Posey got his leg broke because of this crap, and fools like Eric Byrnes simply don’t get it.

Hey Eric instead of trying to hurt the catcher, why don’t you try to slide and not run yourself into an out. When you say that the base-runners mindset goes from slide to run-over as soon as the catcher has the ball, illustrates the problem because it should be the other way around. If the catcher is blocking without the ball then it’s free game, but when the catcher has the ball and is blocking the plate and you aren’t on top of him, slide you might just be safe. If you haven't played catcher, there is no way in hell you would ever understand the risk of this play. This old-school way of thinking is dumb, and shows you why outsiders think baseball people are hard headed and stubborn.

But enough about that, because the original focus of this article is about Mike Matheny. While not an offensive threat per say, Matheny more than made up for it with his defensive ability and game management skills. It’s so hard for me as a Royals fan to give any type of praise to a Cardinals player, but Matheny has earned it not only for his defense but for his activism in the baseball community.

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