Matthew Thomas Daley (born June 23, 1982) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played 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 Colorado Rockies and the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. He retired after the 2014 season and is now a professional scout for the Yankees.

Early life

Daley was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York, and raised in Garden City, New York, where he graduated from Garden City High School in 2000 after helping GCHS win the New York State Class B baseball championship. Daley attended

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering ...

. He pitched for Bucknell's baseball team and had Tommy John surgery while in college. He was a member of

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek Letter Organizations#Greek letters, Greek-let ...

. He graduated with a degree in accounting and economics.

Baseball career

Colorado Rockies

Daley was signed as an amateur free agent by the Colorado Rockies on June 11, 2004. Daley made his Minor League debut in 2004 with the Casper Rockies. He spent 2005 with the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in differe ...

, and split 2006 between the

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the region. They play the ...

and the Tulsa Drillers. He spent the 2007 season with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers. Daley spent the 2008 season with two teams, playing for the Drillers and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, going 4–6 in 63 games in Tulsa and Colorado Springs. He made his major league debut on April 25, 2009, against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, pitching 1 inning and getting his first strikeout. Daley went from July 8 to August 16 without letting up a single run. His inning scoreless streak was the longest by a Rockies reliever in 2009. Daley split the 2011 season between Triple-A Colorado Springs and the Rockies. He had

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

surgery in August, and missed the entire 2012 season.

New York Yankees

After the 2011 season, Daley signed a minor league contract with the

, receiving an invitation to spring training. The Yankees promoted Daley to the major leagues on September 6, 2013, and he made his first appearance with the Yankees that night. On September 26, 2013, Daley was the pitcher that replaced

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most ...

in Rivera's last career game. After the season, Daley was non-tendered by the Yankees, making him a free agent. He was re-signed to a minor league deal on December 19, 2013. Daley began the 2014 season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and was promoted to the major leagues on April 19 replacing Cesar Cabral who had been designated for assignment after hitting 3 batters and being ejected in the previous night's game. Daley pitched 1.1 innings that night and had 6 runs (4 earned) scored against him. He was designated for assignment the next day, but cleared waivers and went back to Scranton. He was called back up to the major leagues in May, and optioned back to the minors on July 12. He was called up to the Yankees again on August 4, but designated for assignment four days later. The Yankees released Daley on September 2. Daley retired at the end of the 2014 season due to shoulder issues and was hired by the Yankees as a professional scout.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, Matt 1982 births Living people Asheville Tourists players Bucknell Bison baseball players Casper Rockies players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Modesto Nuts players New York Yankees players New York Yankees scouts Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Sportspeople from Queens, New York Baseball players from New York City Tampa Yankees players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Trenton Thunder players Tulsa Drillers players Garden City High School (New York) alumni