Watching Gary Matthews Jr. play in Tuesday?s All-Star Game in Pittsburgh brought to mind that no baseball manager, scout or executive can bat 1.000. At best, player personnel decisions are crapshoots.
In Matthews? case, the 32-year-old Son of Sarge has changed teams six times since breaking into the majors in 1999. He entered this season with a .249 career average. That he would hit mid-July batting .328 with 10 home runs, 30 doubles and 47 RBI for the Texas Rangers ? well, who could?ve predicted that?
The Orioles acquired Matthews from the Mets at the beginning of the 2002 season for pitcher John Bale ? not exactly an eyebrow raiser. In 109 games, the results were promising: .276 batting avg., 25 doubles, seven home runs, 15 stolen bases and 38 RBI. It looked like Matthews had found a permanent home in Baltimore.
A year later, however, a .204 start after 41 games sent Matthews packing, waived back to his original team, San Diego. The batting average was low, but 15 of his 33 hits were for extra bases. It wasn?t enough, obviously, and management figured the previous year had been a fluke.
Young Gary got his stroke back ? partially, anyway ? batting .271 in 103 games for the Padres, but they gave up on him again and waived him to one of his dad?s old teams, the Atlanta Braves. Before he could add a Braves jersey to his growing collection, however, they waived him to Texas.
A part-timer for the Rangers in 2004 ? 87 games ? Matthews hit 11 home runs, slugged .461, and did a good job in the outfield. With more playing time last year, he hit 17 home runs and drove in 55, more than enough to guarantee another big-league contract.
I?m sure there are more than a few Oriole fans who want to knock the ballclub for not hanging on to Matthews longer than they did. That?s just not fair. Two other teams ? including baseball?s reigning dynasty, the Braves ? bailed on him after the Orioles did. Some players are late bloomers, and despite his All-Star season, there?s no guarantee he won?t revert to form next year. I hope that?s not the case, as “Little Sarge” was about as pleasant a young man to deal with as anyone who?s worn the black-and-orange over the years.
Now, if you want to question the decisions that dictated the signing of Albert Belleand the re-signing of Sidney Ponson, be my guest. (By the way, every time I type “Ponson” on my computer, the program wants to change it to “Poison.” How about that?)
Listen to Phil Wood at 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN Radio 1300.
