Poor Big Matty. My heart hurts for him. I hope they don't make him do that again...

So, did he ever play catcher for the Twins? Was he even on the depth chart for that position for us? I'm probably way off here but I thought he played 3rd or something.

While the media keeps hammering on Matthew, they ignore the facts that: 1) no one thought he was a good defensive catcher, so if the manager puts him there, he knows the risk he's taking; 2) Matthew's team won the game. Apparently all those stolen bases didn't hurt the team too badly.

He was our backup catcher for a time IIRC, but in the end was mostly our "last resort" backup catcher. He played first sometimes and DH'ed of course.

I'll always like him 'cuz he wore a bow tie to our wedding (on the field at the Dome).

I was a little afraid that something like this might happen when he signed with a National League team. Without the DH, you just knew there would be times when they would be trying to get his bat in the line up and would be tempted to put him behind the plate. I hope maybe he can find a home back in the AL where this sort of thing won't happen again. Such a good guy, you hate to see him struggle like that. We all have our bad days, though, I guess.

I want my Matt back. He is the only person I think that could make a manager cry about pulling him after that performance. I love the guy.

I miss the days of Matty coming in to pinch run for Dougie.

I had assumed when he signed with an NL team that he'd be there to pinch-hit for pitchers, and perhaps occassionally play first. I feel bad for Matty, and it looks like it was a pretty bad injury situation for the Nationals that involved putting him behind the plate. Good thing he seems to be taking it reasonably well.

Will
I think that will forever be my favorite story from Twins spring training.

I seem to remember Doug saying that Matt ran out of the dougout while finishing off a hotdog.

Yeah, when Matty signed here with the Nats, you could see this day coming...but Frank Robinson's reaction has to touch you. What a great manager he must be to play for.

BG remembers Baseball Prospectus arguing passionately that Gardy should start Matty at catcher during the playoffs in '04. The stats made it seem like such a good idea....

As the great philosopher Harry Callahan said in Magnum Force, "A man has to know his limitations." It helps when your manager knows them as well. Maybe Mr. Gardenhire should get to know the left side of his infield better.

Some time ago, my very young niece expressed an interest in playing junior hockey. She had seen the kids perform during period breaks at our local college games. So, I surprised her and enrolled her. She was scared and didn't want to go. I had to be the "bad" adult and make her do it for the pre-paid month because I never wanted her to NOT do something because she was scared. The deal was one month.

The first practice, she was sooooooo lost. So small. And falling on the ice every few seconds. I felt soooooo horrible. I cried the whole practice. I coudn't believe I'd done that to her...I was sure she was down there crying under her helmet.

I was there when she "skated" off, ready to apologize on my knees and tell her she never, EVER had to be that miserable ever again...

She took her helmet off and was grinning ear-to-ear wanting to know when she could come back...

I cried...AGAIN.

Speaking of Dougie, in regards to KC's 13-game losing streak, he's quoted in today's paper as saying, "I've kind of run out of things to say. There's really not much to talk about." You know it's bad when *Dougie* is speechless . . .

Ok, gonna take this opportunity to go to the end of the scope of this topic (if not slightly off) to discuss former Twin (on topic?) Jacque Jones.

Everyone is down on him, especially in Chicago...but he LEADS the team in batting average at .281.

That is all. Have a great baseball-filled Memorial Day weekend.

YF

Keeping with the trend of discussing former Twins, I note that bad-boy AJ has been fined an "undisclosed amount" for his participation(?) in the altercation with the Cubs last weekend. I would be curious to find out just how much it costs a player in fines to throw his face at a guy's fist.

I further note that he was not suspended, however. On the other hand, Barrett (10 games), Anderson (5 games) and BitchSox coach Cora (2 games) didn't get off quite so cheap.

After turning the last page of Matthew and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, reporters huddled around LeCroy's locker to get his perspective on the game. Matthew proved that while he's no Yogi Berra behind the mask, he is capable of throwing out a legendary quote:

"I'd like to be better," said LeCroy. "But if I was, I'd be a lot richer."

I'm glad that Matty took it all so professionally. I miss Big LeRoy.

Frank Robinson is actually a bit of an asshole to his players, so his emotional reaction to this is stunning. Matty must have made a hell of an impression on him.

Poor Matty -- but if anyone can come back from this without being all beat up inside, he can.

BAT bandwagoner, your story made *me* cry.

I only recall seeing Big Matty Love catch once, and I think it was the road game at Toronto that he hit a grand slam in a couple years ago.

AJ said on Dan Patrick's show that he was fined $2K for 'waving his arms to the crowd' on the way back to the dugout. Pure BS.

"BAT bandwagoner, your story made *me* cry."

Yeah, I fought back a few tears when reading that. Awesome story.

My poor boyfriend!! I didn't think it was possible for me to hate the Astros more than I already do, but there you go.

Oh, and not for the first time, I am moved to say I (Heart) YankeeFan. Thanks for having Jacque's back like that, dude. It is much appreciated.

BAT Bandwagoner, as someone who is also head over heels in love with her young niece, I loved that story. You're the good adult. :-)

>Oh, and not for the first time, I am moved to say I (Heart) YankeeFan

I should probably make shirts.

heh

Awww. Thanks guys. She actually scored a goal later that season against the travel team.

(Yup. I cried.)

Hello, no one is commenting on the BEST part of the article: "...before the game, he performed a mock dance to a hip-hop beat for his teammates, wearing sunglasses and flashy jewelry..."

Dear god, flashy jewelry!

Donnalove, I would pay to see that.

> I only recall seeing Big Matty Love catch once, and I think it was the road game at Toronto that he hit a grand slam in a couple years ago.

TD, that's the game that made me an active Twins fan! I mean, I've been a Twins fan my whole life, but I never actually cared about baseball. now I keep score, listen to the radio broadcast at the ballpark, and I have season tickets in the Cheap Seats! so to me, that was the best game, ever!

I'm curious if it was flashy man-jewelry, like bling-bling, or flashy woman-jewelry, like tacky costume jewelry.

I just hope a giant clock was worn.

I love how Matty has class without having class, ya know? Only he would do such a dance, and then turn around and be completely adult about a painful situation. If only some of our ex- (or now AAA) pitchers could do the same...

I miss Crawdaddy, too. What an awesome guy.

Frank just became one of my favorite mangers and players.

It sounds like Crawdad has become one of his favorite players from their team site. Beyond that I'm proud to know there are managers out there who care about their players. This only raises my opinion of Matty as person as well. He's always been one of my favorites, but then I love "bar league" players in general.

LeCroy is a DH. It should be common knowledge in the baseball world. If David Ortiz and Edgar Martinez can be considered career DH's...why not LeCroy?

Anybody who expects him to field a posistion is being unfair to LeCroy.

Because you KNOW if some NL team managed to land Ortiz, then put him on first...the media would rush to Ortiz's side if he had trouble fielding.

The baseball gods aren't fair. LeCroy deserves to be a DH for an AL team that can get him in everyday. He didn't do a bad job when he took over nearly full time second half last season.

"I would be curious to find out just how much it costs a player in fines to throw his face at a guy's fist."

Jim, though AJ didn't throw a punch against the Cubs...his on field behavior after he scored doesn't exactly absolve him of all blame.

He made first contact with Barret after the play, and he jawed with Barret the whole time. He didn't punch, but I don't think Barret would've done anything had AJ kept his mouth shut.

He didn't get suspended, which is good...because he didn't deserve that. But he's not completely innocent in this.

Ok thats it, we need to mount a campaign to bring back one of the most beloved Twins players. Call him what you want, Matty, LeRoy,Crawdad or my favorite Corndog we need him back.

Torhu: agreed. Being a former Twin doesn't make someone automatically innocent. Especially when that someone is AJ, whose reputation precedes him. If that was, I don't know... Derek Jeter, most people here would be probably saying he got what he deserved for throwing on a football tackle and talking trash afterwards.

My guess is that half the players in baseball not-so-secretly applauded--and lived vicariously through--that punch. And fellow catchers won't forget that tackle anytime soon, either.

(And yeah, bring back Matty!!!)