Matthew Dean Karchner (born June 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the Major Leagues from 1995 to 2000.

Playing career

Karchner graduated from Berwick High School in

Berwick, Pennsylvania Berwick is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. As of the 2020 United States census, 202 ...

in 1985. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Bloomsburg University Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg (CU-Bloomsburg, or Bloomsburg) is a campus of Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The ...

and led

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

with 1.59

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

per game in 1988. The following year, he was selected in the eighth round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

. He was converted to pitching and was assigned to the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

to begin his professional career. After three seasons in the Royals'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

, Karchner was selected in the 1991

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. He signed a one-year contract with the Expos in January 1992 but was returned to the Royals that April. Karchner spent two more seasons in the Royals' farm system before being selected by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in the minor league phase of the 1993 Rule 5 draft. To begin the 1994 season, Karchner was assigned to the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

where he played with

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

. Karchner made his Major League debut on July 18, 1995 at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

and pitched a scoreless inning in relief of

Kirk McCaskill Kirk Edward McCaskill (born April 9, 1961) is a Canadian-American former Major League Baseball pitcher and former professional ice hockey player. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels and Chicago White Sox between 1985 and ...

. Karchner was a regular in the White Sox

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for the remainder of that season as well as the following two seasons. Between 1997 and 1998, he set a franchise record by converting 20 consecutive save opportunities. On July 29, 1998, Karchner was traded to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

for Jon Garland who was then 18 years old and struggling in the minor leagues. The move was widely criticized by prospect experts at the time and was later described in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' as "one of the most lopsided in

ubs UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

franchise history" and in ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' as the "greatest White Sox trade ever." Karchner struggled in his debut season with the Cubs but was brought back the following year nonetheless. In 1999, he missed substantial time due to groin injuries. By 2000, Karchner's attitude had soured and manager Don Baylor chose to keep him in the minors with the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

due, according to Karchner, to his negative attitude. The Cubs released him in September 2000. Needing offseason shoulder surgery and facing free agency, Karchner chose to retire. Karchner later told ''

Mitchell Report The ''Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball'', informally known as the Mitchell Report, is the res ...

'' investigators that, during spring training in 1999, he was present when two of his Cubs teammates injected each other with

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

in their shared apartment. He further reported that he had been offered steroids but declined to use them.

Coaching career

In January 2004, Karchner was named the interim head baseball coach at

Susquehanna University Susquehanna University is a private liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, United States. Its name is derived from the original Susquehannock settlers of the region. Founded in 1858 as a missionary institute, it became a four-year li ...

. He resigned that position in June 2005.

Personal life

Karchner is married and has one daughter, born April 1, 1994. By the time his playing career ended, he had multiple children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karchner, Matt 1967 births Living people Appleton Foxes players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball City Royals players Baseball players from Columbia County, Pennsylvania Birmingham Barons players Bloomsburg Huskies baseball players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Eugene Emeralds players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chicks players Nashville Sounds players People from Berwick, Pennsylvania Susquehanna River Hawks baseball coaches