Photo: In this Feb. 16 file photo, Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny (back left) watches as pitcher Jesse Hahn throws during spring training baseball practice in Surprise, Arizona. The Royals had an entire offseason and most of spring training to get to know Mike Matheny. But one unintended consequence of the coronavirus pandemic is they’ve gotten to know their new manager better than they could ever have imagined. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – When the Kansas City Royals learned that spring training was over and they were headed home, with questions swirling around if and when they might start the season, Mike Matheny sent them each a copy of a book called “Legacy.”
Author James Kerr tells the story of the All Blacks, the famed New Zealand rugby team that has won more than 75% of its matches going back a century. Kerr breaks down the Kiwis’ success and teases out lessons for individuals and teams that have to do with accountability, leadership and developing a winning culture.
It’s something that Matheny, who was hired this past offseason to replace the retired Ned Yost, wouldn’t have been able to do during the regular season, when the daily grind chews up everybody’s day. But with the coronavirus pandemic giving his players more free time than they’ve had since most of them were kids, Matheny decided to take advantage by giving them a little bit of homework and in doing so, giving them a little insight into what makes him tick, too.
“I think we’re all pretty pumped to play for Mike,” said pitcher Brad Keller, who has finished the book while trying to stay in shape in Arizona. “The intensity he brought when we were in spring training was bar-none. The entire spring had a different vibe, a different attitude. Everybody was over losing. We were excited to get back to winning.”
That has been put on indefinite hold, of course. There is still nobody quite sure when baseball will resume.
But when it does, Keller thinks the Royals will have been able to develop a deeper relationship with their new manager than they might have otherwise. Whereas daily games would have dominated their lives in a regular season, Matheny’s meetings the past few weeks on Zoom and other virtual platforms have touched not just on baseball but life in general.
“He’s definitely reached out. It’s about the only thing he can do, honestly, reach out and sit and talk with us,” Keller said. “We go over some books — the ‘Legacy’ book he asked us to read. He sits with the pitchers in their meetings. Just keeping us active and keeping our minds engaged and keeping us loose. That’s about the only thing he can do.”
It’s not surprising that Matheny would recommend a book centered on self-improvement.
After he was fired by the St. Louis Cardinals, where one of the biggest gripes among players was that Matheny was unable to reach them on a personal level, he spent a year mostly focused on himself. Sure, he was spending time as an adviser to the Royals, but Matheny also took classes in communication and read books about leadership and positive thinking.
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