Baseball does have a way of manufacturing the perfect moment.
The Charlotte Knights (Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate) held their annual Vs. Cancer night — this year a doubleheader — on Friday. In partnership with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, they spent the day raising awareness and hosting a number of children living with the disease.
For Knights infielder Jason Matthews, the day held extra weight. The 29-year-old lost both of his parents to cancer when he was 7 years old. His older sister, Sue, just 18 herself at the time, took over as his primary caregiver.
Her guidance and support took him a very long way — the Matthews siblings are originally from Auckland, New Zealand. Matthews’ baseball journey took him from secondary school back home in NZ to community college in Iowa and later to Division I competition. After graduation, he signed with the independent Great Falls Voyagers of the Pioneer League, where the White Sox found him following a fantastic rookie year.
Matthews is now playing his fifth Minor League season, having worked his way all the way up to Triple-A. And on this very special night at the ballpark, he really stepped up to the plate.
Batting ninth and playing shortstop for the Knights in the nightcap, Matthews — who, for reference, had come in with just five extra-base hits in 44 games — cranked a towering solo home run on the first pitch he saw on the day. That kicked off the scoring in what would be a 6-1 Charlotte victory.
“Every night is special for me,” Matthews said postgame. “[Every night] I just play for the ones that I’ve lost, the ones that I love, too, and I just try to make my family and country proud.”
“Mission accomplished” sounds like an understatement.
