Former KC Royals manager Mike Matheny survives major health scare

Few things in baseball are bigger than the game itself, but the health of past and present players is one of them. Former MLB catcher and manager Mike Matheny is no stranger to injuries and the normal bumps and bruises on the diamond. However, he had a harrowing medical experience earlier this year that, by all accounts, he is lucky to have survived. Matheny opened up on his scare on the Get in the Game podcast.

On Jan. 17, 2024, Matheny experienced an intense headache while working out near his home in Florida. The pain was so severe that he called his wife for assistance, and by the time she arrived, Matheny was unable to open his eyes. An ambulance transported him to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of bleeding between the brain and its surrounding membrane.

Matheny admitted that without his wife's intervention, he had planned to go home and lie down. Doctors later informed him that if he had done so, he likely "wouldn't have woken up." He subsequently learned that half of the people who experience a subarachnoid hemorrhage don't make it to the hospital. Among those who do, one-third never return home, and another third suffer from irreversible brain damage.

Matheny leaned upon his faith during the experience, and the aftermath gave him a refreshed perspective.

"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," Matheny said. "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.”

This incident was far from Matheny's first brain-related health scare. In 2015, he revealed that "there were 18 months of my life at the end of my career that I couldn't account for," due to concussions sustained during his playing career.

"I can't tell you how many times I heard, 'You have just a concussion, tell me what day of the week it is, and your mother's maiden name and we'll let you play,'" Matheny said. "Meantime, it's covering up the fact that this is trauma to the brain."

The four-time Gold Glove winner had a lengthy playing career but made his greatest impact as a manager. Under Matheny's leadership, the St. Louis Cardinals made four consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the World Series in 2013. Matheny later brought his managerial expertise to the Royals from 2020 to 2022, but was unable to replicate his previous success. He finished with a 165-219 record, resulting in a .430 winning percentage.

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