Matthew Daniel Lynch Jr. (February 7, 1926 – June 30, 1978) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played briefly in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in 1948.

Biography

A native of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, Lynch was a paratrooper in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during World War II. After the war, he attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

(SMU), where he played both baseball and basketball. The 1947 edition of ''The Rotunda'', SMU's yearbook, includes a baseball team photo with both Lynch and future

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner Doak Walker. Lynch's father, who shared the same name, had played in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

for a decade as a

middle infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. The younger Lynch was originally signed by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in June 1948, and played 91 games for the minor league

Waco Pirates The Waco Pirates were a minor league baseball team based in Waco, Texas who played in the Big State League from 1947–1956. They were an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team actually began as the Waco Dons in 1947 but changed t ...

. However, in September 1948, Lynch was declared a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after Commissioner of Baseball

Happy Chandler Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also se ...

ruled that the Pirates had hired the elder Lynch as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

as a way to hide a bonus payment. Lynch was then signed by the

on September 7, and married on September 8. A week after being signed, Lynch played in

for the Cubs, appearing in seven games through the end of the 1948 season; one as a second baseman, one as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

, and five as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

. In seven major league at bats, he had two hits, including a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

off of Johnny Sain, for a .286 batting average and a .714

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. Lynch did not return to the major leagues, but he played in the minor leagues through 1954, including over 300 games at the Triple-A level. After retiring from baseball, Lynch became a lawyer in Texas. He died in an automobile accident in June 1978 in Plano, Texas.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Dummy 1926 births 1978 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II SMU Mustangs baseball players SMU Mustangs men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baseball players from Dallas Major League Baseball second basemen Chicago Cubs players Waco Pirates players Des Moines Bruins players Portsmouth Cubs players Houston Buffaloes players Rochester Red Wings players Columbus Red Birds players Oklahoma City Indians players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players 20th-century American lawyers Texas lawyers Road incident deaths in Texas