Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Matthew Edward White |
Nationality | American |
Born | August 13, 1978 |
Years active | 1996–2006 |
Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) |
Weight | 237 lb (108 kg; 16 st 13 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Baseball |
Position | Pitcher |
Turned pro | 1996 |
Matthew Edward White (born August 13, 1978) is a retired professional baseball pitcher. He attended Waynesboro Area High School from 1993 to 1996[1] where he had a 0.79 ERA.[2] During his senior year he posted a 10–1 record with an 0.63 ERA, allowing 21 hits and 37 baserunners.[3] Following the season he was named USA Today's Baseball Player of the Year[4] and the Gatorade's High School Player of the Year.[5][6][7]
After initially planning to attend Georgia Tech University,[8] White was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 1996 amateur draft,[9] but his agent Scott Boras found a loophole that allowed White to become a free agent after the Giants failed to offer him a contract in the required 10-day time allotted.[2] He received a $10.2 million signing bonus in 1996 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[10][11] Shoulder and back injuries limited White to 122 minor league games during his career. He never played in the major leagues and retired in 2006 with a career mark of 35–47 and a 4.64 earned run average.[8][12][13][14]
White competed in the trials for the 1996 Olympics team but was the last high school pitcher cut from the team.[15] He was selected to the 2000 Sydney Olympic team but suffered an injury prior to the games and was forced to return without participating.[8]