Insider’s view of the World Series
Local man pitched for both Cardinals, Tigers
Local man pitched for both Cardinals, Tigers
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Matt Kinzer signs autographs for children.
While sitting in a restaurant Saturday night watching the World Series, Matt Kinzer was asked which team he favored.
“Who’s winning?” he asked, and then was told the Cardinals.
“Then I guess I’m rooting for the Cardinals,” he said.
Kinzer has an interesting perspective as he pitched for both the Cardinals and Tigers during his brief Major League Baseball career.
A Norwell High School graduate and Markle native, Kinzer, 43, was a second-round pick of the Cardinals in the 1984 draft and fought his way up the minors to pitch eight games for St. Louis in 1989. The Cardinals traded him to the Tigers on Dec. 6, 1989, and he pitched one game for Detroit in 1990. A sore arm ended his career that same season.
“I played a lot of years with the Cardinals, and there’s something to be said for bleeding Cardinal red,” Kinzer said. “It’s a close-knit family. I probably have more allegiance to the Cardinals for all the years I spent with them, but the Tigers have a brick in front of their stadium entrance with my name on it. Every time we go there, the kids go running around looking for it.”
Matt and Julie Kinzer have been married since Dec. 29, 1984, and have three sons – Taylor, 18, Derek, 16, and Jordan, 14.
After he retired as a player, Kinzer started coaching. He coached IPFW for two years, sold advertising for the Fort Wayne Fury and then scouted for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1995 to 2000. When the Devil Rays wanted him to take an expanded role that would include more travel, Kinzer turned them down in 2000 and went to work as the director of recruiting for Reynolds Sports Management of Riverside, Calif. Larry Reynolds was Kinzer’s agent.
“I told them that my wife and my boys needed me a lot more than the Devil Rays,” he said.
So instead of traveling 25 days a month, he’s on the road for about 10. The company’s clients include Major League Baseball players LaTroy Hawkins, B.J. Upton, Ryan Sweeney, Matt Diaz, Ryan Howard and Torii Hunter.
During his travels, Kinzer frequently runs into former teammates, including Cardinals bench coach Joe Pettini and bullpen coach Marty Mason. Kinzer said about 15 people have asked him for World Series tickets, but he has no inclination to go to a game himself.
“I choose to watch the games at home with my boys and try to watch it as a family,” he said. “My No. 1 priority is my family, and my second is all the other children I represent.”
That includes Julie, who may know more about baseball than anyone else in the family, her husband said.
Like many fans in this area, the Kinzer family is leaning toward the Tigers in the series.
“In my opinion it’s been a really good playoffs so far,” Kinzer said. “There’s been some great pitching, timely hitting and some great defense. It’s been what baseball’s supposed to be.”
While sitting in a restaurant Saturday night watching the World Series, Matt Kinzer was asked which team he favored.
“Who’s winning?” he asked, and then was told the Cardinals.
“Then I guess I’m rooting for the Cardinals,” he said.
Kinzer has an interesting perspective as he pitched for both the Cardinals and Tigers during his brief Major League Baseball career.
A Norwell High School graduate and Markle native, Kinzer, 43, was a second-round pick of the Cardinals in the 1984 draft and fought his way up the minors to pitch eight games for St. Louis in 1989. The Cardinals traded him to the Tigers on Dec. 6, 1989, and he pitched one game for Detroit in 1990. A sore arm ended his career that same season.
“I played a lot of years with the Cardinals, and there’s something to be said for bleeding Cardinal red,” Kinzer said. “It’s a close-knit family. I probably have more allegiance to the Cardinals for all the years I spent with them, but the Tigers have a brick in front of their stadium entrance with my name on it. Every time we go there, the kids go running around looking for it.”
Matt and Julie Kinzer have been married since Dec. 29, 1984, and have three sons – Taylor, 18, Derek, 16, and Jordan, 14.
After he retired as a player, Kinzer started coaching. He coached IPFW for two years, sold advertising for the Fort Wayne Fury and then scouted for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1995 to 2000. When the Devil Rays wanted him to take an expanded role that would include more travel, Kinzer turned them down in 2000 and went to work as the director of recruiting for Reynolds Sports Management of Riverside, Calif. Larry Reynolds was Kinzer’s agent.
“I told them that my wife and my boys needed me a lot more than the Devil Rays,” he said.
So instead of traveling 25 days a month, he’s on the road for about 10. The company’s clients include Major League Baseball players LaTroy Hawkins, B.J. Upton, Ryan Sweeney, Matt Diaz, Ryan Howard and Torii Hunter.
During his travels, Kinzer frequently runs into former teammates, including Cardinals bench coach Joe Pettini and bullpen coach Marty Mason. Kinzer said about 15 people have asked him for World Series tickets, but he has no inclination to go to a game himself.
“I choose to watch the games at home with my boys and try to watch it as a family,” he said. “My No. 1 priority is my family, and my second is all the other children I represent.”
That includes Julie, who may know more about baseball than anyone else in the family, her husband said.
Like many fans in this area, the Kinzer family is leaning toward the Tigers in the series.
“In my opinion it’s been a really good playoffs so far,” Kinzer said. “There’s been some great pitching, timely hitting and some great defense. It’s been what baseball’s supposed to be.”
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