The Matt Wieters Appreciation Thread

[Frobby]

Maybe this is premature pending a formal announcement that Castillo has been signed, but let me take a moment to say a few things about Matt Wieters.

While Matt never met the sky-high offensive expectations that many of us had after his insane year at Frederick and Bowie in 2008, he provided a lot of great moments.    I loved the way he carried himself on the field, and the look he always had on his face after gunning down a runner or blocking a runner at the plate.    It was a look that basically said, "how dare you!"     As he grew into veteran status, he was very well respected by his teammates, especially the pitchers.   And we all know Buck adored the guy; that counts for a lot in my book.

We thought we'd be saying goodbye to Matt last offseason, but he surprised a lot of people (not everyone) and took the QO.   There was a lot of unhappiness about it at the time, but looking back, we weren't a playoff team in 2016 without Matt.   From his game winning hit on opening day, to his game winning homer against the Angels in May, to his game-tying homer against the Blue Jays in the second-to-last series of the year, to his two homers in our playoff-clinching win on the final day of the regular season, Matt provided a lot of really special moments in 2016.

We all mostly agree that it's time to move on, but I enjoyed Matt's 9 years playing in our organization (8 as a major leaguer) and I hope he has several good years left in him.   The team that signs him will be getting a class act.

[ChipTait]

I loved it when he wore the Cartoon Bird on his catching helmet his rookie year, a hint of things to come...  Good luck, Wieters!

[Just Regular]

There's a certain level on which I feel like the day we got Matt was the first day I really felt the team could eventually be good again.  And he contributed to making that feeling a reality, even if he never became the franchise cornerstone you could have hoped for watching him tear through the minors.  I'm glad he was on our team all these excellent years.

[Number5]

Glad we had him.  He was a big part of the Orioles' return to respectability, IMO.

[jtschrei]

Thank you Matt Wieters. I always liked you. Good team player. Gave it everything he had. Contributed greatly to all the winning the last four or five years. He will be missed.

[Satyr3206]

I always liked Matt. Loved watching him gun out runners. Hope he gets a good deal. Best Wishes.

[sportsfan8703]

I bought tickets to his first two games so I could see him get a hit.  I'll never forget that triple of Verlander.  

[oriole]

Mauer with Power except it was more like Mauer without the average or on base abilities...or the power. So I guess it was Mauer without the Mauer? 

 

I posted this in the other thread too but me and Matt are the same age and came from the same small town...Goose Creek. I always liked him for the remote possibility we had interacted as children. Plus to make this wonderful story even more heart warming the manager of the local minor league affiliate was none other than Dave Trembley around that time. Justin Smoak is the same story except he is a Blue Jay so he can screw off. 

[El Gordo]

Favorite Wieties moment. Gonna miss him. More importantly the clubhouse will miss him.

[sportsfan8703]

12 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

Favorite Wieties moment. Gonna miss him. More importantly the clubhouse will miss him.

Agreed.  Funny how not being able to block the plate hurt his value a little.  The guy was a roadblock.  

[weams]

51 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Maybe this is premature pending a formal announcement that Castillo has been signed, but let me take a moment to say a few things about Matt Wieters.

While Matt never met the sky-high offensive expectations that many of us had after his insane year at Frederick and Bowie in 2008, he provided a lot of great moments.    I loved the way he carried himself on the field, and the look he always had on his face after gunning down a runner or blocking a runner at the plate.    It was a look that basically said, "how dare you!"     As he grew into veteran status, he was very well respected by his teammates, especially the pitchers.   And we all know Buck adored the guy; that counts for a lot in my book.

We thought we'd be saying goodbye to Matt last offseason, but he surprised a lot of people (not everyone) and took the QO.   There was a lot of unhappiness about it at the time, but looking back, we weren't a playoff team in 2016 without Matt.   From his game winning hit on opening day, to his game winning homer against the Angels in May, to his game-tying homer against the Blue Jays in the second-to-last series of the year, to his two homers in our playoff-clinching win on the final day of the regular season, Matt provided a lot of really special moments in 2016.

We all mostly agree that it's time to move on, but I enjoyed Matt's 9 years playing in our organization (8 as a major leaguer) and I hope he has several good years left in him.   The team that signs him will be getting a class act.

Agreed. The Posey rule took away his greatest strength. 

[Ruzious]

Matt did well here - not as well as the extremely high expectations helped set by him being a high number 1 pick and putting up great minor league numbers - but there never seemed to be doubt about his effort - and he clearly played through pain.  It's time to move on, and thank Matt for his excellent efforts and high standards of professionalism here.  Good luck in the future.      

[Frobby]

23 minutes ago, weams said:

Agreed. The Posey rule took away his greatest strength. 

Even after he couldn't block the plate, his reach on sweep tags gave him a big edge on most catchers.   He also rarely dropped a short-hop throw.   He was also excellent at catching foul tips, an underrated skill.   

[Dark Helmet]

1 hour ago, oriole said:

Mauer with Power except it was more like Mauer without the average or on base abilities...or the power. So I guess it was Mauer without the Mauer? 

 

I posted this in the other thread too but me and Matt are the same age and came from the same small town...Goose Creek. I always liked him for the remote possibility we had interacted as children. Plus to make this wonderful story even more heart warming the manager of the local minor league affiliate was none other than Dave Trembley around that time. Justin Smoak is the same story except he is a Blue Jay so he can screw off. 

Three straight years of 22 or more HR is a pretty decent power number. Especially for a catcher that was rode into the ground. I was good with Wieters coming back. Good luck Matt. Hope wherever you go, the fans appreciate you more than many Orioles fans did. If Sisco doesn't pan out, many will miss what we had while we had it. And that was pretty damn good.

[weams]

25 minutes ago, Dark Helmet said:

Three straight years of 22 or more HR is a pretty decent power number. Especially for a catcher that was rode into the ground. I was good with Wieters coming back. Good luck Matt. Hope wherever you go, the fans appreciate you more than many Orioles fans did. If Sisco doesn't pan out, many will miss what we had while we had it. And that was pretty damn good.

Oh, I liked him. I was just sorry he was a Boras guy and sorry he got hurt on us. Not his fault.