Matthew John Kinney (born December 16, 1976) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

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 spent with the

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway ...

of the

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(MLB). Kinney is a graduate of

Bangor High School Bangor High School, a member of the Bangor School System, is a high school in Bangor, Maine, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students in grades 9–12. It is Bangor's only public high school. Since its 2001–2002 sel ...

. Kinney and his Little League team was featured in the Stephen King essay "Head Down", featured in King's

Nightmares and Dreamscapes ''Nightmares & Dreamscapes'' is a short story collection by American author Stephen King, published in 1993. Stories Dedication King dedicated this collection of stories to Thomas Williams, a writing instructor who taught for many years at ...

collection. He now resides in Maine with his wife Megan and sons Maddox Kinney and Mason Kinney.

Career

Kinney was drafted out of Bangor High School in the sixth round of the 1995 amateur draft by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins along with

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...

for

Orlando Merced Orlando Luis Merced Villanueva (born November 2, 1966) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played all or parts of 13 seasons in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1990–1996), Toronto Blue Jays (1997), Minnesota ...

and Greg Swindell in July 1998. Kinney made his MLB debut in with the Twins, going 2–2 with a 5.10

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 8 starts. In , he had just a 4.64 ERA with the Minnesota Twins, but went 2-7 that year. He was traded in the 2002 off-season to the Milwaukee Brewers. In and with the Brewers, he combined for a 13–17 record. On August 6, 2004, Kinney was designated for assignment by the Brewers and was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals. He made 11 relief appearances with the Royals that season. During the 2007- offseason, Kinney signed with the Saitama Seibu Lions, playing in Japan for a single season. Kinney returned to the United States in 2009 to play with the

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in d ...

, the AAA affiliate of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. Kinney gave up Barry Bonds' 660th

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 ...

, which tied Bonds with his godfather

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

. On August 24, 2010, while with the Triple-A

of the Pacific Coast League, Kinney received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for an amphetamine, a banned performance-enhancing substance. Kinney took responsibility for the suspension but explained that the amphetamine in question was contained in

Adderall Adderall and Mydayis are trade names for a combination drug called mixed amphetamine salts containing four salts of amphetamine. The mixture is composed of equal parts racemic amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which produces a (3:1) ratio ...

, a drug he has been taking since 2005 to treat his

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

, and was taken for medical reasons, not to boost his on-field performance. The suspension came as a result of his forgetting to file the proper paperwork with Major League Baseball when he signed with the Giants earlier in the year.Maine native Kinney explains baseball suspension
''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinney, Matt 1976 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American disabled sportspeople American sportspeople in doping cases Baseball players from Maine Baseball players suspended for drug offenses Baseball players with disabilities Edmonton Trappers players Fort Myers Miracle players Fresno Grizzlies players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Gulf Coast Twins players Kansas City Royals players Lowell Spinners players Major League Baseball pitchers Michigan Battle Cats players Milwaukee Brewers players Minnesota Twins players New Britain Rock Cats players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Saitama Seibu Lions players Salt Lake Buzz players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players Sarasota Red Sox players Sportspeople from Bangor, Maine