Outfielder, San
Francisco Giants
Age: 23 (July 5)
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 185
Prior to 1973:
A native of San
Fernando, California Matthews performed well on the high school baseball team, drawing
praise for his speed, hitting, character, and work ethic. Selected by the
Giants in the first round of the 1968 amateur draft (17th overall),
the 18-year-old was first assigned to Decatur of the Class A Midwest League in
1969 where over the course of 53 games he batted .322 with 8 home runs and 30
RBIs and was named to the league’s All-Star team. In 1970 he moved on to Fresno
of the Class A California League where he hit .279 with 23 home runs and 79
RBIs and defensively compiled 15 outfield assists. Advancing to Amarillo of the
Class AA Dixie Association in 1971, Matthews batted .280 with 15 home runs and
86 RBIs. With Phoenix of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1972 he hit .313
with 21 home runs and 108 RBIs to earn not only league All-Star recognition but
a September call-up to the Giants where he hit .290 in 20 games. Initially
platooning in left field with Gary Thomasson in 1973, Matthews had the position
to himself by May and was part of the NL’s fastest starting outfield along with
Garry Maddox in center and Bobby Bonds in right.
1973 Season Summary
Appeared in 148
games
LF – 144, RF –
1, PH – 1, PR – 2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 605
At Bats – 540
Runs – 74
Hits – 162
Doubles – 22
Triples – 10
[2, tied with Garry Maddox]
Home Runs – 12
RBI – 58
Bases on Balls
– 58
Int. BB – 7
Strikeouts – 83
Stolen Bases – 17
[11, tied with Willie Davis]
Caught Stealing
– 5
Average - .300 [9]
OBP - .367 [20]
Slugging Pct. -
.444
Total Bases – 240
GDP – 12
Hit By Pitches
– 1
Sac Hits – 3
Sac Flies – 3
Midseason
snapshot: 3B – 8, HR - 6, RBI – 38, AVG – .316, OBP - .391
---
Most hits, game
– 3 on ten occasions
Longest hitting
streak – 9 games
Most HR, game –
1 on twelve occasions
HR at home – 5
HR on road – 7
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 3 at Atlanta 7/2, at St. Louis 7/18, at Philadelphia 8/27
Pinch-hitting –
1 of 1 (1.000)
Fielding
Chances – 293
Put Outs – 277
Assists – 11
Errors – 5
DP - 0
Pct. - .983
Awards & Honors:
NL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
NL ROY Voting
(Top 5):
Gary Matthews,
SF: 11 of 23 first place votes, 46% share
Steve Rogers,
Mon.: 3 votes, 13% share
Bob Boone,
Phila.: 2 votes, 8% share
Dan Driessen,
Cin.: 2 votes, 8% share
Elias Sosa, SF:
2 votes, 8% share
(1 vote apiece
for Ron Cey, LAD; Johnny Grubb, SD & Dave Lopes, LAD, who tied for sixth)
---
Giants went 88-74
to finish third in the NL Western Division, 11 games behind the
division-winning Cincinnati Reds while leading the league in triples (52).
Aftermath of ‘73:
Matthews
followed up with another solid season in 1974, batting .287 with 16 home runs
and 82 RBIs. He was limited to 116 games in 1975 due to a broken thumb suffered
when shadow boxing with a teammate, although he still hit .280, but with 12
home runs and 58 RBIs. Matthews rebounded in 1976 by batting .279 with 20 home
runs and 84 RBIs. In the offseason he fled the financially strapped Giants for
the Atlanta Braves as a free agent, in a transaction which led to tampering
charges against Atlanta owner Ted Turner. Despite injury problems, Matthews was
productive for the last-place Braves in 1977, hitting .283 with 17 home runs
and 64 RBIs. Sidelined for five weeks with a shoulder separation in 1978, he
batted .285 in 129 games with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs. Matthews was an
All-Star in 1979 on his way to batting .304 with 27 home runs and 90 RBIs. Overcoming
a slow start in 1980 he ended up hitting .278 with 19 home runs and 75 RBIs.
During spring training in 1981 Matthews was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies
for RHP Bob Walk and, in the strike-interrupted season, hit .301 with 9 home
runs and 67 RBIs. He also saw his first postseason action, batting .400 in the
five-game first round loss to Montreal. Matthews followed up with another solid
year in 1982, batting .281 with 19 home runs and 83 RBIs. The Phillies won the
NL East in 1983 and Matthews contributed just 10 home runs and 50 RBIs along
with a .258 average, but in the NLCS victory over the Dodgers he was MVP after
batting .429 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs in the four games. In another spring
training trade Matthews was dealt to the Chicago Cubs in 1984. In addition to
hard-nosed leadership, the player known as “Sarge” brought a potent bat to his
new club, hitting .291 with 14 home runs and 82 RBIs, while drawing a
league-high 103 walks. The Cubs won the NL East but lost to San Diego in the
NLCS, where Matthews added two more home runs and five RBIs. A knee injury that
required surgery limited him to 97 games in 1985 and his production dropped to
.235 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs. With his fielding ability also dropping off
in 1986 Matthews became a part-time player, batting .259 with a club-leading 21
home runs plus 46 RBIs. He was dealt to Seattle midway through the 1987 season
and was primarily utilized as a Designated Hitter. For his last year he hit a
combined .242 with three home runs and 23 RBIs. Overall in the major leagues
Matthews batted .281 with 2011 hits that included 319 doubles, 51 triples, and
234 home runs. He further scored 1083 runs and compiled 978 RBIs and 183 stolen
bases. With the Giants he batted .287 with 624 hits, 100 doubles, 24 triples,
64 home runs, 296 RBIs, 53 stolen bases, and 318 runs scored. Appearing in 19
postseason games, he hit .323 with 7 home runs and 15 RBIs. Matthews was an All-Star
on one occasion and received MVP votes following four seasons, finishing as
high as fifth once. After his playing career “Sarge” spent some time as a coach
and went into broadcasting. His son Gary Jr. was an outfielder with seven major
league teams.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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