Matthew David Tupman (born November 25, 1979) is a retired professional baseball

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Amateur career

Tupman played for

Plymouth State University Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students an ...

his freshman year before transferring to University of Massachusetts Lowell. He hit .414 his freshman year at Plymouth. He batted .363 with 8

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 ...

s, 73 runs, 18 doubles and 50 RBIs his junior year and was named second-team a Division II All-American.

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

Before the season Tupman played in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

in the Dominican Republic. Tupman was called up 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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

on May 16, , when John Buck was placed on the paternity list after his wife gave birth prematurely. Tupman made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter for

Jimmy Gobble Billy James Gobble (born July 19, 1981) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who last played in the Colorado Rockies organization. High school career Gobble attended John S. Battle High School in Bristol, Virginia and started four years on t ...

against the Florida Marlins on May 18, 2008. Tupman recorded a hit off

Kevin Gregg Kevin Marschall Gregg (born June 20, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Florida / Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blu ...

, but was the first out in a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

in the next plate appearance. The next day, Buck was activated from the paternity list and Tupman returned to the minor leagues. He became a free agent at the end of the 2008 season, but re-signed to a minor league contract on November 30. On June 23, Tupman was released from the Royals organization.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On July 6, 2009, Tupman was signed to a minor league contract by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was granted free agency at the end of the '09 season. He was suspended for violating Minor League Baseball's drug policy. It was his second positive test.

Lancaster Barnstormers

After spending 2010 out of baseball, in 2011, Tupman signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He played in 57 games in Lancaster before becoming a free agent at seasons end.

References

External links

A Play-by-play log of Tupman's major league debut
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tupman, Matt 1979 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from New Hampshire Spokane Indians players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Wichita Wranglers players Omaha Royals players Kansas City Royals players Mobile BayBears players Burlington Bees players Lancaster Barnstormers players Plymouth State Panthers baseball players UMass Lowell River Hawks baseball players Sportspeople from Concord, New Hampshire