{{short description|American baseball player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Wid Matthews |position=[[Outfielder]] |image=Matthews, Md., 6-27-(24) LOC npcc.11667 (cropped).jpg |bats=Left |throws=Left |birth_date={{Birth date|1896|10|20|mf=y}} |birth_place=[[Raleigh, Illinois]], U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1965|10|5|1896|10|20}} |death_place=[[Hollywood, California]], U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=April 16 |debutyear={{Baseball year|1923}} |debutteam=[[Philadelphia Athletics]] |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=June 7 |finalyear={{Baseball year|1925}} |finalteam=[[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] |statleague = MLB |stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]] |stat1value=.284 |stat2label=[[Home runs]] |stat2value=1 |stat3label=[[Runs batted in]] |stat3value=39 |teams= *[[Philadelphia Athletics]] (1923) *[[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] (1924–1925) }} '''Wid Curry Matthews''' (October 20, 1896 – October 5, 1965) was an American [[outfielder]], [[scout (sports)|scout]] and front office executive in [[Major League Baseball]]. Matthews served as [[general manager (baseball)|general manager]] of the [[Chicago Cubs]] for seven full seasons and became one of the first front-office employees in the history of the [[New York Mets]] in 1961, the year before they began play in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]]. A native of [[Raleigh, Illinois]], Matthews stood 5 ft, 8{{fraction|1|2}} in (174 cm) tall and weighed 155 pounds (70 kg) in his playing days. He threw and batted left-handed.
==Playing career==
After playing in the highest level of the [[minor league baseball|minor leagues]] — the [[American Association (20th century)|American Association]] and the [[International League|International]] and [[Pacific Coast League|Pacific Coast]] leagues — Matthews made the major leagues for {{frac|2|1|2}} seasons (1923–midseason 1925) for the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] and [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]], [[batting average (baseball)|batting]] .284 with 188 [[hit (baseball)|hits]], 21 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], ten [[triple (baseball)|triples]], one [[home run]] and 39 [[runs batted in]] in 192 games played. Sent by Washington to [[Sacramento Senators (baseball)|Sacramento]] of the [[Pacific Coast League]] after 53 [[games played]] in {{mlby|1924}}, Matthews did not appear in the [[1924 World Series]], won by the Senators in seven games.
==Scout/front office career==
Matthews' career as a scout and general manager began in {{Baseball year|1936}}, when he joined the [[St. Louis Cardinals]], the pioneers of the MLB [[farm system]]. [[1943 in baseball|Seven years later]], he moved with Redbird GM [[Branch Rickey]] to the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]], where he served as the Dodgers' director of Midwest scouting through the [[1949 in baseball|1949]] season. As Brooklyn's top scout in the Midwest, Matthews was one of multiple Dodger evaluators who followed [[Jackie Robinson]] of the [[Kansas City Monarchs]] of the [[Negro leagues]] in 1945. His glowing assessment of Robinson's ability to "protect the strike zone" was key to Rickey's decision to target Robinson as the first [[African-American]] to break the [[baseball color line]] that had been in force since the 1880s.<ref>{{cite web|first=Dick|last=Balos|title=Jackie Robinson: Simply a great athlete|date=February 12, 1990|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-jackie-robinson-athlete-19900212-story.html|accessdate=2015-12-16}}</ref>
On February 14, 1950, Matthews became "director of player personnel" and ''de facto'' general manager of the Cubs. The Cubs had just begun a long skein of losing seasons, finishing in the NL's second division for 20 consecutive years (1947–66), and compiling an over-.500 record only in 1963. During his seven seasons (1950–56) as the top baseball official in the Chicago front office, Matthews was able to break the Cubs' color line, signing [[Ernie Banks]] as the team's first African-American player. However, plagued by a poor farm system and not aggressive enough in the signing of other black and [[Latin America|Latin]] talent, the Cubs could not escape the NL's second division during Matthews' reign.
After his dismissal by the Cubs, Matthews joined the front office of the [[Milwaukee Braves (1953–69)|Milwaukee Braves]], then one of the National League's dominant teams. He held the identical title he did with Chicago, but in his new post he served as assistant GM to [[John Quinn (baseball executive)|John J. Quinn]], the Braves' incumbent general manager. In January of [[1961 in baseball|1961]], Matthews became a scout for the Mets, newly admitted to the National League as a 1962 [[expansion team]]. He was promoted, along with [[Johnny Murphy]], to the post of top aide to club president [[George Weiss (baseball)|George Weiss]] in November of that year.
Matthews resigned as the Mets' director of player personnel during the [[1964 in baseball|1964]] season. His last job in baseball was as a scout for the [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|Los Angeles/California Angels]]. He died in a [[West Hollywood, California]], hotel at the age of 68 during the Angels' end-of-year organizational meetings.
==References== {{reflist}} * "Top Dodger Scout Switches to Cubs", ''[[The New York Times]]'', Feb. 15, 1950. * "General Manager of Mets Resigns: Front Office Realigned as Hurth Quits Post", ''[[The New York Times]]'', Nov. 15, 1961.
==External links== * [http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Mathews.Wid.Obit.html The Dead Ball Era]
==Sources== {{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=m/matthwi02 |fangraphs= |cube= |brm=}}
{{Chicago Cubs general managers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Wid}} [[Category:1896 births]] [[Category:1965 deaths]] [[Category:Baseball players from Saline County, Illinois]] [[Category:Brooklyn Dodgers scouts]] [[Category:California Angels scouts]] [[Category:Chattanooga Lookouts players]] [[Category:Chicago Cubs executives]] [[Category:Indianapolis Indians players]] [[Category:Little Rock Travelers players]] [[Category:Los Angeles Angels scouts]] [[Category:Major League Baseball general managers]] [[Category:Major League Baseball outfielders]] [[Category:Milwaukee Braves executives]] [[Category:Milwaukee Braves scouts]] [[Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players]] [[Category:New York Mets executives]] [[Category:New York Mets scouts]] [[Category:Baseball players from Hattiesburg, Mississippi]] [[Category:People from Saline County, Illinois]] [[Category:Philadelphia Athletics players]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]] [[Category:Reading Keystones players]] [[Category:Rochester Hustlers players]] [[Category:Sacramento Senators players]] [[Category:St. Louis Cardinals scouts]] [[Category:Salt Lake City Bees players]] [[Category:Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players]] [[Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players]]