Royals Manager Profile

Mike Matheny Manager Profile Kansas City Royals

Mike Matheny was named the 17th fulltime manager in Kansas City Royals history on October 31, 2019. He takes the reigns after previously managing the St. Louis Cardinals (2012-18), while he served as a Special Advisor to Player Development for the Royals during the 2019 campaign. He enters

this season ranking seventh among active big league managers with 591 victories, while his .555 winning percentage (591-474) is fifthhighest among that group.

Matheny was named Cardinals’ manager on November 14, 2011 and at the time was the youngest manager in baseball (41 years, 53 days). He posted a winning record each year with St. Louis, including a Major Leaguebest 100 victories during the 2015 campaign. Spanning his tenure, the Cardinals had the third-highest winning percentage in the Majors, behind only the Dodgers (.573) and Nationals (.564).

Mike led St. Louis to the postseason in each of his first four seasons, becoming the first manager to do that in Major League history. Under his leadership, the Cardinals were a Wild Card qualifier in 2012, before winning three-straight National League Central titles (2013-15). He took the club to the World Series in 2013, falling to the Boston Red Sox, while his teams reached the NLCS in 2012 and 2014, before bowing to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants both years.

He will enter the 2020 season having managed 43 postseason games, which are third most in the Majors since 2012, trailing only Houston’s AJ Hinch (50) and the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts (47). Over the last eight postseasons, Mike’s 21 victories are fifth-most. He was relieved of his duties in St. Louis on July 14, 2018.

A veteran of 13 Major League seasons as a player, Matheny was originally selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round of the 1991 First-Year Player Draft. He made his debut with Milwaukee in 1994 and spent time with the Brewers (1994-98), Toronto (1999), St. Louis (2000-04) and San Francisco (2005- 06) in his career.

He was a four-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner (2000, 2003-05) behind the plate and still holds the Major League catching record for most consecutive errorless games (252). At one time, he also held the MLB record for consecutive errorless chances by a catcher (1,565), until it was broken by Mike Redmond in 2010. He led National League catchers in fielding percentage twice (2003, 2004), while his .994 career fielding percentage ranks 21st all-time among big league backstops (min. 500 games).

Mike earned the first Darryl Kile Award in 2003, which is an annual award that recognizes a Cardinals’ player who best demonstrates the qualities that the late Kile brought to the clubhouse. He also earned the Willie Mays Award with the Giants in 2005, being recognized as the most inspirational player on the team.

Mike and his wife, Kristin, have five children: Tate, Katie, Luke, Jacob and Blaise and one grandson (Ryker James). His oldest son, Tate, played baseball at Missouri State University and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2013. His daughter, Katie, played women’s ice hockey at Ohio State University, while sons Luke (Oklahoma State) and Jacob (Missouri) both played baseball at the NCAA Division I level.

A native of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Matheny attended the University of Michigan, where he was co-captain of the Wolverines’ baseball team. His wife, Kristin, was also a varsity athlete at Michigan, playing field hockey. During his final years as a player, Mike organized and created the “Catch 22” charity, which resulted in the opening of the “Catch 22 Miracle Field” at Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex in St. Louis in 2005. The field is designed and constructed to allow children of all abilities to experience the thrill of playing baseball. In 2015, he published a book titled “The Matheny Manifesto”, which is about coaching youth baseball with the philosophy of respect, ownership, self-motivation and nononsense sportsmanship.