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Jon Matlack

Jon Matlack
Inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, 2021
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 44 of 1218 players
Matlack
Jonathan Trumpbour Matlack
Born: January 19, 1950 at West Chester, Pa.
Throws: Left Bats: Left
Height: 6.03 Weight: 200

Jon Matlack has been the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup 18 times, most recently on July 28, 2022.

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First Mets game: July 11, 1971
Last Mets game: September 30, 1977

Share your memories of Jon Matlack

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Jon
I really admired Jon Matlack becuase we spelled our names the same way. I recall one time he took a screaming line drive off his forehead and went straight down. I remember my Dad saying it looked like he could've been killed -- but I don't think he even missed a start.

Dan
I didn't realize that Matlack was traded for Willie Montanez. I was more interested in playing baseball (copying all of the Met player's batting stances and windups, of course!) then following who was traded for who. Matlack was the most fun to emulate with that high kick. The sad thing is is that Montanez became my favorite Met and I even had his number on the back of my Met batting helmet! I'll have to rethink this memory...

Paul S.
March 24, 2001
The Seaver/Koosman/Matlack combo was the 70's equivalent to the Braves' Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz. If only the Mets had some decent hitting, they may have outdone the current Braves in post-season choking opportunities. As it was, '73 was Matlack's only post- season trip.

Mr. Sparkle
August 1, 2002
I loved this guy. He was one of my favorite players in my formative years as a fan. He never gave up a lot of runs and would have had a much better record if the Mets could have only scored for him. He would be great if he were around today. He was a true class act. I'll never forget the line drive that hit him in the head. That was pretty scary. Thank God he was OK.

Don Jerue
February 11, 2003
I was only eight years old, when I distinctly remember Jon Matlack getting struck by the line drive off Marty Perez's bat. What is really amazing is that he didn't miss a start. My first Mets game was that next start by Matlack against the Pirates. He pitched well, but I believe he did not get the win.

Philip Ohler
June 5, 2003
Jon Matlack moved into the house next door to my family's in 1972. I was 13 years old at the time and wow! what a great experience. Jon and his wife, I believe it was Dee or Deedee, were so nice. I occasionally babysat for their young kids and best of all went to several games with his wife and sat in the wives section behind homeplate at Shea. My fondest memories are Jon giving me a ball from a 7-0 shutout of San Diego, a ball signed by the 1973 Mets and attending the playoff game where the infamous Rose vs. Harrelson fight took place. Jon was a great neighbor, great pitcher and I was sad when he was traded away to Texas. Wondering what he's up to today? Anyone know?

Bob P
June 7, 2003
According to this link, Matlack is or recently was a roving minor league pitching instructor for the Tigers. The home page of the website has a 2002 copyright on it, so I'm not sure if Matlack is still there considering all the turmoil the Tigers have gone through lately. Maybe someone else knows more?

LenDog
June 14, 2003
"Bob" above was the first to mention The Greatest Game Ever Pitched By a Mets Pitcher.

Forget Al Leiter vs. Cincinnati in the one-game playoff in '99; that was great, but how about Matlack?

Game 2, 1973 playoffs he TWO HIT the Big Red Machine. I'm going to check the box score after I post this, but I recall that Andy Kosko got both hits. I.e., Rose, Morgan, Bench, Perez, et. al. were shut down, and journeyman A. Kosko got two hits.

This was a road game, too, and game 2 in a best of five, so the pressure was enormous. What a peformance. Would love to see it on video.

Larry Yarnall
April 10, 2004
It must have been around April 1962. Jon was on my Uncle Roland Willard's Little League ball team the Bootery. My Uncle had the number 1 team for as long as I can remember. Well, I went to a practice at the Legion and caught for Jon. He liked to have broken my hand, no joke. You don't forget a pain like that.

I first met Jon around June of 1961 he lived down the street from a long time best friend of mine Frankie Guinta. This was on Locust Lane near Hoopes Park in Good old West Chester. His sister Debbie and I were in the same class.

Then in High School when I was a Freshman and he was a Senior in 1966-67 we ate at the same lunch table all year. This is unheard of. Seniors did not associate with Freshmen. None the less Seniors did not give me a hard time.

Over the years I have followed Jon's success with much pride. Hometown boy made good. I was drafted into the Army in 1970. My lottery number was 5. I made a career of it. I remember the big send off when Jon left from the Shortline Bus station on Market St. in West Chester that must have been 1969 or 1970. What a pitcher.

I am happy to have known him. He was great even in Little League. I know because I was there. We all have to start somewhere. I'm happy to have been a witness to the begining. He's a great guy -- not a bragger. Jon, I wish you all the best. A little kid's dream from West Chester, PA was to play on the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. They missed the boat when Jon went to the Mets.

Mari
June 7, 2004
I remember going to see the Mets play at Shea when I lived in New York, and all my family ate, breathed and slept was the Mets. I had a big crush on him, and his trading card was my most prized possession. I cried like a baby when I watched him get hit with that line drive, and (don't kill me for saying this!) John Rocker reminds me a bit of him. I traded my brother's Tom Seaver card on the school playground, he traded my Jon Matlack card and to this day I have never forgiven him. Jon Matlack is a great man.

Paul
June 9, 2004
In terms of "stuff", he's the best the Mets ever had. Better than Seaver, Gooden, Cone, any of them.

Whenever I hear a hitter from the 70s/80s talk about the toughest pitchers they faced, invariably they mention Matlack (especially the lefties).

Mike
May 13, 2005
I remember having field level seats by third base at Shea, and trying to sneak close to the home plate seats to watch Matlack pitch. I couldn't believe how hard he threw. He was by far the most underappreciated Met ever. He should be honored in some way by the team. He was gutsy in that 73 season.

KMT
August 27, 2005
Everything written before me is totally true, except the Kooz WAS the best lefty in Mets history! That rant finished, I must say Jon was an outstanding pitcher in his own right! The saddest part of being a Met pitcher in the early '70's was knowing you had to be just about perfect every time you took the hill! Most pitchers with Jon's Met numbers would have been 20 game winners, year in, year out! Here it was not to be! Still he should be a definite member of the Mets HOF. I read he's still a minor-league pitching coach. Not sure where, maybe San Diego's chain. I'll have to check it out.

Steve DeLong
December 23, 2005
In the sixties, Koosman definitely was the best lefty of the Mets. After he hurt his arm, he got by on control, but had lost a lot of the buzz on his fastball. Matlack could really bring it, and (like everyone else here has said) given even a LITTLE support, he'd have been a perennial twenty game winner. Oddly, during the 90s, there was a brief Senior Baseball League out of Florida that I happened to flip the TV to one day, and I saw this guy pitching show that huge leg-kick, and I thought, "Who the heck is that? He throws just like Jon Matlack." I didn't know that this was a senior league, and when they showed his face, I nearly fell out of my chair. After all those years, it was Jon Matlack, still throwing well. Did anyone else see those games?

Jeff The Pug
September 16, 2007
As a 7-year-old in 1976, I remember trying to emulate Matlack's uniquely effective pitching motion. I knew he was a lefty and I a righty, but I just had to pitch like him. Aside from his wind-up, Matlack - I pronounced his name Mada-Lack (rhymes with the car)- also seemed larger than life to me. Unlike today, there just weren't that many pitchers who were 6'3".

In my mind'e eye, Matlack, much like Sid Fernandez, had electric stuff and was underrated by everyone except his peers.

Joe Spagna
January 28, 2009
He was nice in the 70s. He bought my cotton candy. All 42 cones when I was a vendor there.

scott
October 19, 2009
I also was at the game where Jon was hit in the head with a line drive. I was 10 years old and was just telling a friend about what I remembered. I remember the sound of the ball hitting the bat and then the sound of the ball hitting his head. The ball did bounce all the way to the dugout. One of my scarier childhood memories of Shea.

Don
January 23, 2012
I was at the game when Jon was hit by a line drive. We heard the sound in the upper deck.

Joey Spagna
February 25, 2012
I hope he gets into the Mets Hall of Fame. I'm going to buy him a drink in the Ceasars Club.

Dan Matlack
July 22, 2012
You all have great memories of my father as a player, thanks for sharing! I was just on the field at Citi Field today with my son and his grandson, Jonny Matlack and he seemed to like it there so who knows, maybe in 9 years we'll have another Jon Matlack pitching for the Mets :)

Logan Swanson
November 20, 2013
There was no rationale for trading Jon at the end of 1977. He had an off-year, but there was nothing wrong with his arm. Pitching is the hardest thing to get in MLB, and Jon was one of the premier hurlers in the National League, and a lefty to boot. He would have provided stability to the staff in the late 70s/early 80s, when the Mets desperately needed an anchor.

Todd Schuster
July 26, 2021
Jon finally gets his due this weekend at Citi Field as he, Ron Darling and Edgardo Alfonzo get inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. Jon was just as important to those 1970's Mets as Seaver, Koosman and Tug were. It's a shame he didn't win more games, mainly due to a lack of offensive and at times defensive support. Could have had a couple of 20 win seasons with better offense. Still one of the best starters in franchise history. Congratulations #32.








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