Gary Matthews Marquee

b. July 5, 1950 · San Francisco Giants 1972–1976, Atlanta Braves 1977–1980, Philadelphia Phillies 1981–1983, Chicago Cubs 1984–1987, Seattle Mariners 1987

He was Rookie of the Year for San Francisco in 1973 with 11 of the 24 first-place votes, and in October 1983 he hit three home runs in four games of the Championship Series for Philadelphia and was its most valuable player. The Phillies reached a World Series between those two things and he was thirty-three.

Sixteen seasons gave him 2,011 hits, 234 home runs, 978 runs batted in, 940 walks and a .281 average. He led the National League with 103 walks in 1984 for the Cubs, the year Chicago won its division for the first time in thirty-nine years.

He was called Sarge, by Pete Rose, for how he organized the outfield. His son Gary Matthews Jr. played twelve seasons and was an All-Star in 2006. The 1993 ballot gave him no votes at all.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	1	1979
Player of the Week	5	1974, 1976, 1979, 1982, 2006
NLCS MVP	1	1983
Player of the Month	1	1981
Rookie of the Year	1	1973
The Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year	1	1973

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1972	SFG	20	62	11	18	1	1	4	14	7	13	0	.290
1973	SFG	148	540	74	162	22	10	12	58	58	83	17	.300
1974	SFG	154	561	87	161	27	6	16	82	70	69	11	.287
1975	SFG	116	425	67	119	22	3	12	58	65	53	13	.280
1976	SFG	156	587	79	164	28	4	20	84	75	94	12	.279
1977	ATL	148	555	89	157	25	5	17	64	67	90	22	.283
1978	ATL	129	474	75	135	20	5	18	62	61	92	8	.285
1979	ATL	156	631	97	192	34	5	27	90	60	75	18	.304
1980	ATL	155	571	79	159	17	3	19	75	42	93	11	.278
1981	PHI	101	359	62	108	21	3	9	67	59	42	15	.301
1982	PHI	162	616	89	173	31	1	19	83	66	87	21	.281
1983	PHI	132	446	66	115	18	2	10	50	69	81	13	.258
1984	CHC	147	491	101	143	21	2	14	82	103	97	17	.291
1985	CHC	97	298	45	70	12	0	13	40	59	64	2	.235
1986	CHC	123	370	49	96	16	1	21	46	60	59	3	.259
1987	CHC/SEA	89	161	13	39	4	0	3	23	19	33	0	.242
Career	—	2033	7147	1083	2011	319	51	234	978	940	1125	183	.281

On this day & linked events

1950

Born July 5, 1950

San Fernando, CA, USA

1972

Major-league debut: Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews made a major-league debut on September 6, 1972.

1976

Gary Matthews's Three-Home-Run Game, 1976

Gary Matthews hit three home runs for the San Francisco Giants against the Houston Astros on September 25, 1976.

1987

Final major-league game: Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews played a final major-league game on October 2, 1987.

Image: Dealphungo, CC BY-SA 3.0