Gary Matthews Stats

Gary Matthews was born on Wednesday, July 5, 1950, in San Fernando, California. Matthews was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 6, 1972, with the San Francisco Giants. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Gary Matthews baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I am proud to saw that it was none other than Pete Rose, bless him, who pinned the nickname 'Sarge' on me. It happened in 1983. When I joined the Phillies before the start of the 1981 season (in a trade from the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Bob Walk), Pete was already there. Two years earlier he had signed with the Phillies as a free agent. We were teammates for three seasons. We finished first in the National League East in 1983 and faced the Dodgers in the National League Championships Series when, after a mediocre regular season (a .258 average, 10 home runs, and 50 RBIs in 132 games), I went on a hot streak. In four games, I batted .429, hit three home runs, drove in eight runs, and was named Most Valuable Player of the NLCS. That's when Pete dubbed me with the nickname 'Sarge' and said, 'Any time a future Hall of Famer gives you a nickname, it sticks.' Pete got one part right. It's been two decades, and to everybody in baseball (and many outside of it) I'm still known as Sarge, and the name has given me an identity, an image, and a legacy. But Pete was wrong about the 'future Hall of Famer' part. Rose is not in the Hall of Fame, although he should be." - Gary Matthews in Few and Chosen Phillies: Defining Phillies Greatness Across the Eras (Triumph Books, 04/01/2012, Preface)

Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews Autograph on a 1978 Topps Baseball Card (#475)

Gary Matthews Autograph on a 1978 Topps Baseball Card (#475)

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Birth Name:   Gary Nathaniel Matthews
Nickname:   Sarge
Born On:   07-05-1950  (Cancer)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   San Fernando, California
Year of Death Data Died On:   Still Living (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Still Living
Cemetery:   n/a
High School:   San Fernando High School (San Fernando, CA)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-03   Player Weight Chart Weight:   190
First Game:   09-06-1972 (Age 22)
Last Game:   10-02-1987
Draft:   1968 : 1st Round (17th)

Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews Hitting Stats

1972 22 Giants 20 62 11 18 1 1 4 0 14 7 2 13 1 1 0 1 .290 .357 .532
1973 23 Giants 148 540 74 162 22 10 12 0 58 58 7 83 3 3 1 12 .300 .367 .444
1974 24 Giants 154 561 87 161 27 6 16 1 82 70 5 69 2 2 3 15 .287 .368 .442
1975 25 Giants 116 425 67 119 22 3 12 0 58 65 5 53 0 2 2 13 .280 .377 .431
1976 26 Giants 156 587 79 164 28 4 20 0 84 75 3 94 2 6 1 8 .279 .359 .443
1977 27 Braves 148 555 89 157 25 5 17 1 64 67 3 90 2 1 2 13 .283 .362 .438
1978 28 Braves 129 474 75 135 20 5 18 0 62 61 2 92 1 4 2 16 .285 .366 .462
1979 29 Braves 156 631 97 192 34 5 27 1 90 60 5 75 1 3 0 6 .304 .363 .502
1980 30 Braves 155 571 79 159 17 3 19 0 75 42 2 93 1 5 0 16 .278 .325 .419
1981 31 Phillies 101 359 62 108 21 3 9 0 67 59 2 42 1 6 3 8 .301 .398 .451
1982 32 Phillies 162 616 89 173 31 1 19 0 83 66 1 87 0 6 2 23 .281 .349 .427
1983 33 Phillies 132 446 66 115 18 2 10 0 50 69 3 81 4 7 0 8 .258 .352 .374
1984 34 Cubs 147 491 101 143 21 2 14 0 82 103 2 97 1 10 3 10 .291 .410 .428
1985 35 Cubs 97 298 45 70 12 0 13 0 40 59 2 64 0 3 2 8 .235 .362 .406
1986 36 Cubs 123 370 49 96 16 1 21 0 46 60 1 59 0 2 0 15 .259 .361 .478
1987 37 Cubs 44 42 3 11 3 0 0 0 8 4 1 11 0 0 0 1 .262 .326 .333
1987 37 Mariners 45 119 10 28 1 0 3 0 15 15 0 22 0 1 0 6 .235 .319 .319
16 Years 2,033 7,147 1,083 2,011 319 51 234 3 978 940 46 1,125 19 62 21 179 .281 .364 .439

Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews Fielding Stats

1972 Giants LF 10 8 234 26 2.6 25 25 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .962 2.88
1972 Giants RF 9 9 222 15 1.7 15 15 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.82
1973 Giants LF 144 140 3,726 297 2.1 292 281 11 5 0 n/a n/a n/a .983 2.12
1973 Giants RF 1 0 9 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.00
1974 Giants LF 151 144 3,888 302 2.0 293 284 9 9 2 n/a n/a n/a .970 2.03
1975 Giants LF 113 112 2,973 244 2.2 236 225 11 8 2 n/a n/a n/a .967 2.14
1976 Giants LF 156 155 435 277 1.8 270 262 8 7 0 n/a n/a n/a .975 16.76
1977 Braves LF 145 145 384 283 2.0 273 262 11 10 1 n/a n/a n/a .965 19.20
1978 Braves RF 127 126 3,228 257 2.0 249 239 10 8 0 n/a n/a n/a .969 2.08
1979 Braves RF 156 156 4,086 316 2.0 308 296 12 8 4 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.04
1980 Braves LF 6 5 132 6 1.0 5 4 1 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .833 1.02
1980 Braves RF 137 137 87 270 2.0 260 254 6 10 0 n/a n/a n/a .963 80.69
1981 Phillies LF 100 99 2,520 184 1.8 177 165 12 7 1 n/a n/a n/a .962 1.90
1982 Phillies LF 162 161 2,943 295 1.8 286 272 14 9 3 n/a n/a n/a .969 2.62
1983 Phillies LF 122 120 2,913 193 1.6 188 177 11 5 2 n/a n/a n/a .974 1.74
1984 Cubs LF 145 144 3,375 240 1.7 229 223 6 11 0 n/a n/a n/a .954 1.83
1985 Cubs LF 85 85 1,950 131 1.5 128 120 8 3 2 n/a n/a n/a .977 1.77
1986 Cubs LF 105 104 2,337 152 1.4 143 138 5 9 1 n/a n/a n/a .941 1.65
1987 Cubs LF 2 2 30 2 1.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.80
LF Totals 1,446 1,424 27,840 2,632 1.8 2,547 2,440 107 85 14 n/a n/a n/a .968 2.47
RF Totals 430 428 7,632 859 2.0 833 805 28 26 4 n/a n/a n/a .970 2.95
16 Years 1,876 1,852 35,472 3,491 1.9 3,380 3,245 135 111 18 n/a n/a n/a .968 2.57

Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews Miscellaneous Stats

1972 Giants 0 1 .000 1 0 n/a 15.5 4.8 4.4 - - -
1973 Giants 17 5 .773 1 2 n/a 45.0 6.5 9.3 - - -
1974 Giants 11 9 .550 5 2 n/a 35.1 8.1 6.8 - - -
1975 Giants 13 4 .765 4 0 n/a 35.4 8.0 7.3 - - -
1976 Giants 12 5 .706 1 0 n/a 29.4 6.2 7.0 - - -
1977 Braves 22 8 .733 2 1 n/a 32.6 6.2 8.7 - - -
1978 Braves 8 7 .533 3 0 n/a 26.3 5.2 7.6 - - -
1979 Braves 18 6 .750 0 0 n/a 23.4 8.4 7.0 - - -
1980 Braves 11 3 .786 11 1 n/a 30.1 6.1 7.6 - - -
1981 Phillies 15 2 .882 2 0 n/a 39.9 8.5 5.4 - - -
1982 Phillies 21 4 .840 1 0 n/a 32.4 7.1 7.4 - - -
1983 Phillies 13 9 .591 12 0 n/a 44.6 5.5 8.9 - - -
1984 Cubs 17 8 .680 3 0 n/a 35.1 5.1 6.0 - - -
1985 Cubs 2 0 1.000 12 0 n/a 22.9 4.7 7.5 - - -
1986 Cubs 3 2 .600 19 0 n/a 17.6 6.3 8.0 - - -
1987 Cubs 0 0 .000 42 0 n/a 0.0 3.8 5.3 - - -
1987 Mariners 0 1 .000 16 0 39 39.7 5.4 7.9 - - -
16 Years 183 74 .712 135 6 39 30.5 6.4 7.3 - - -

Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1972 San Francisco Giants 36 $13,500.00 - -
1973 San Francisco Giants 36 $15,000.00 - -
1974 San Francisco Giants 36 $15,000.00 - -
1975 San Francisco Giants 36 Undetermined - -
1976 San Francisco Giants 36 $42,000.00 - -
1977 Atlanta Braves 36 $296,750.00 - -
1978 Atlanta Braves 36 Undetermined - -
1979 Atlanta Braves 36 Undetermined Stats -
1980 Atlanta Braves 36 Undetermined - -
1981 Philadelphia Phillies 34 Undetermined - -
1982 Philadelphia Phillies 34 Undetermined - -
1983 Philadelphia Phillies 34 Undetermined - Stats
1984 Chicago Cubs 36 Undetermined - -
1985 Chicago Cubs 36 $600,000.00 - -
1986 Chicago Cubs 36 $850,000.00 - -
1987 Chicago Cubs 36 Undetermined - -
1987 Seattle Mariners 36 Undetermined - -

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baseball almanac fast facts

In 1973, Greg Luzinski set a Philadelphia Phillies record for most games played in left field during a single season (159 appearances), a mark The Bull tied in 1975. In 1982, Gary Matthews broke the fielding feat, appearing in every possible game that year (162), a team-specific record that has never been duplicated to date in Philly.

Have you ever wondered what other left-fielders - in Major League history - have taken their position in left field, at least 162 times? The "I Don't Need a Day Off Club" include the following left fielders: Leon Wagner (163 games in 1964), Billy Williams (162 games in 1964), Roy White (162 games in 1973), Pete Rose (163 games in 1974), Luis Gonzalez (162 games in 2000) and Carlos Lee (162 games in 2005).

Did you know that Pete Rose gave Gary Matthews his nickname? If you missed it, see the story at the top of Sarge's online baseball card, where he also mentions his League Championship Most Valuable Player Award - the second LCS MVPwon by a Philadelphia Phillies player. Do you know who was the first? Clue: second baseman, 1980. [Answer]

Gary Matthews (234 HRs) and his son, Gary Matthews Jr. (108 HRs), have a combined total of 342 home runs (HRs), the tenth most career home runs by a father and son pair. Fathers & sons with more are: #9. 357 HRs: Bob Boone (105 HRs) & Bret Boone (252 HRs), #8. 369 HRs: Jose Cruz (165 HRs) & Jose Cruz, Jr. (204 HRs), #7. 407 HRs: Yogi Berra (358 HRs) & Dale Berra (49 HRs), #7. 407 HRs: Gus Bell (206 HRs) & Buddy Bell (201 HRs), #5. 458 HRs: Tony Perez (379 HRs) and Eduardo Perez (79 HRs), #4. 539 HRs: Felipe Alou (207 HRs) and Moises Alou (332 HRs), #3. 637 HRs: Cecil Fielder (319 HRs) & Prince Fielder (318 HRs / Active), #2. 782 HRs: Ken Griffey (152 HRs) & Ken Griffey, Jr. (630 HRs), #1. 1,094 HRs: Bobby Bonds (332 HRs) & Barry Bonds (762 HRs).