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When Mike Matheny played baseball for the University of Michigan, his coach the final two seasons was Bill Freehan, who had been an all-star catcher for the Detroit Tigers.

Freehan foresaw Matheny as a big-league ballplayer and manager. He mentored Matheny with those goals in mind and instilled confidence in the college catcher.

“It was very interesting that he saw that,” Matheny told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com in February 2012. “It wasn’t just some random guy. It was a guy with great credibility.”

Freehan, an 11-time American League all-star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner who played 15 years (1961-76) for the Tigers, encouraged Matheny to take Spanish courses so he could communicate fully with Hispanic players.

“He (Freehan) called me into his office one day and said, ‘If you’re going to be in this game for a long time, even after your playing days, you need to change all your electives to learning Spanish,’ ” Matheny said to Chris Girandola of MLB.com.

Matheny earned his degree in sports management and communication, with a minor in Spanish. He managed the Cardinals from 2012-2018 and led them to a National League pennant in 2013.

A native of the Columbus suburb of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Matheny was recruited to Michigan by baseball coach Bud Middaugh. After the 1989 season, Matheny’s first with the Michigan varsity, Middaugh resigned amid allegations he had diverted money to baseball players from the sale of football game programs.

Michigan athletic director Bo Schembechler turned to Freehan, who had been an all-America catcher at Michigan in 1961.

In six seasons (1990-95), Freehan coached Michigan to a 166-167-1 record, including 76-89 in the Big Ten. In 1991, Freehan named Matheny co-captain. A three-year letter winner (1989-91) and academic all-Big Ten (1990), Matheny was named Michigan’s most valuable player in 1991. He also met his wife, Kristin, a varsity field hockey player for Michigan.

Matheny was selected by the Brewers in the eighth round of the 1991 major league draft, extending a tradition of Michigan baseball players who became professionals. Like Matheny, other Michigan standouts who would play for the Cardinals included infielders Dave Campbell, Chris Sabo and Ted Sizemore, and pitcher Lary Sorensen. Branch Rickey, who was Michigan’s baseball coach from 1910-13 while earning a law degree from the school, became manager and chief baseball executive of the Cardinals.

(Ted Simmons is a Michigan graduate. The physical education and speech major earned his degree in 1996, 29 years after enrolling. Simmons, a catcher, never played for Michigan’s baseball program. Instead, he signed with the Cardinals after graduating from high school in 1967.)

Matheny would go on to win four Gold Glove awards (with the Cardinals in 2000, 2003 and 2004, and with the 2005 Giants) and help St. Louis to four postseason appearances and a National League pennant.

Freehan won his Gold Glove awards in consecutive years (1965-69).

Previously: Bill Freehan, Lou Brock and a World Series controversy

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