Without much fanfare, Matheny makes a difference and helps ease one of the biggest obstacles foreign players face when they adjust to life in the major leagues.
Considering that almost 30 percent of the players in the majors are foreign born — mostly from Latin America — the ability to speak Spanish is crucial for those who work in the baseball industry.
Fortunately for Matheny and the Cardinals, he has worked on his Spanish skills since high school in the late 1980s and, to a greater extent, since his college coach told him and his academic counselor in 1990 to start using his electives on Spanish courses at the University of Michigan.