Matheny: My job isn't about 'being charming'

In the four years since taking over as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Mike Matheny has remained unfailingly stoic, emotionally reserved, and measured with the media both in triumph and failure.

Matheny's midwestern disposition is especially noticeable in the National League Central, where the 45-year-old is often pitted against Joe Maddon - the lovable eccentric who manages on the north side of Chicago - and Clint Hurdle - the affable Pittsburgh Pirates skipper.

The comparisons don't bother Matheny, though, who couldn't care less about being popular.

"I just keep coming back to the fact that - listen, I just don’t believe my job description is about me being charming," Matheny told Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Though Matheny, like every other manager, draws criticism for his in-game strategy at times, he refuses to concern himself with the opinions of those in the stands, or sniping at his tactical decision-making on Twitter. After all, his approach has worked pretty well so far: the Cardinals have won three straight division titles.

"That’s a trap I could easily fall into, to where I’m trying to please the masses," Matheny said. "And then I think I put at risk what I have to do for these guys. And I think they see right through that stuff. Everybody else goes about it the way they want to go about it, and I think I’m the last guy to talk about who’s doing what - I have to figure it out for myself. And what I figured out is - I want these guys, without a doubt, to know what my agenda is, and my agenda is them. And us winning."

Beholden to one singular focus, Matheny was also able to mostly slough off being denied the National League Manager of the Year award in 2015 despite steering the injury-riddled Cardinals to more wins (100) than every other team in baseball.

"... The honest answer is - I’ve never had that on my goal sheet," Matheny said. "Would I have been humbled and honored? The answer would be yes. Was there radical disappointment? The answer is no. I just want to win, I want to watch these guys have incredible seasons. It’s about us and them. I think it’s a really bad trap for me to fall into, to start thinking about accolades.”