Thomas Raymond Mastny (born February 4, 1981) is a former
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), ...
right-handed
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...
. He stands 6 feet, 6 inches in height and weighs 220 pounds. Mastny is the only
Indonesian-born player in Major League history. He was raised in
Zionsville, Indiana
Zionsville is a suburban town located in the extreme southeast area of Boone County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. The population was 14,160 at the 2010 census, 30,693 at the 2020 census, and grew to 33,891 in the 2022 est ...
, where he played for
Zionsville Community High School
Zionsville Community High School (ZCHS) is a 4-year public high school located in Boone County, Zionsville, Indiana, United States. It is the only high school in the Zionsville Community School Corporation.
History
The high school was establish ...
. He made his major league debut with the Indians on July 25, .
Career
Mastny, nicknamed "Mr. Nasty", was born in
Bontang,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, and played collegiate baseball at
Furman University, where he was primarily used as a
starting pitcher. In , he was named the
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...
Pitcher of the Year, but was not widely regarded as a top-tier prospect. He was selected in the 11th round of the 2003 draft by the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
, and began his professional career with the
Auburn Doubledays
The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL ...
of the Single-A
New York–Penn League
The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...
.
In , he played a full season with the Single-A
Charleston Alley Cats, before being sent to the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
in the offseason to complete an earlier trade in which Toronto acquired
infielder John McDonald.
After beginning the season in the starting rotation of the Single-A
Kinston Indians
The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949.
The team began play in 1978 as the Ki ...
, Mastny was converted into a relief role. Later that year, he was promoted to the Double-A
Akron Aeros
The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...
, with whom he remained to begin the season, before being called up for a stint in the bullpen of the
Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...
.
Although still mostly unheralded as a prospect, due partly to his age (then 25), Mastny's career quickly accelerated that summer as the unexpectedly non-contending Indians began shuffling a bullpen that often struggled, particularly after the trade of
closer Bob Wickman
Robert Joe Wickman (born February 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Wickman played for the New York Yankees (–), Milwaukee Brewers (1996–), Cleveland Indians (2000–), Atlanta Braves (2006–), and Arizona Diamondback ...
. The rookie pitcher—whose role with Akron and Buffalo was almost exclusively in middle relief, and who had recorded only three
saves in the minors—was given an opportunity to close essentially by default, earning his first save with two scoreless innings against the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...
on August 19.
[Castrovince, A]
"Mastny saves the day for Tribe"
MLB.com, August 19, 2006 That day, manager
Eric Wedge
Eric Michael Wedge (born January 27, 1968) is an American former baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher and manager.
As a player, Wedge attended Northrop High School in Fort Wayne and played on the school's state champion baseball team in ...
announced that Mastny would be among those tried out in the role over the remainder of the season.
Mastny catapulted onto the national scene after earning a victory in Game 2 of the 2007
American League Championship Series. He was brought in to face the heart of the
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 eight ...
lineup in the bottom of the tenth inning, in which he retired
David Ortiz,
Manny Ramírez
Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with ...
, and
Mike Lowell
Michael Averett Lowell (born February 24, 1974) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 13-year career, Lowell played for the New York Yankees (1998), Florida Marlins (1999–2005), and the Boston Red Sox (2006&nda ...
in order. The Indians would go on to score seven times in the top of the 11th, handing the victory to Mastny.
After a
spring training roster battle with
Jorge Julio
Jorge Dandys Julio Tapia (born March 3, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball relief pitcher. He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles from 2001 to 2005, New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006, and the Florida Marlins ...
in , Mastny was slotted to begin the season with the Triple-A Bisons. He was recalled on April 15, 2008, when
Joe Borowski went on the 15-day
disabled list. Mastny made his first career start on June 3, 2008, against the
Texas Rangers.
On December 7, 2008, the Indians sold Mastny's contract to the Yokohama BayStars of the Japanese
Central League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...
. Mastny had a 1-5 record, with an ERA of 5.69 in 15 games, for the BayStars in 2009.
Birthplace confusion
Mastny's birthplace was briefly the source of some confusion after the ''
Philadelphia Daily Newss
Paul Hagen
Paul Falck Hagen (19 March 1920 – 19 May 2003) was a Danish film and television actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1999. He is most known for playing Mr. Clausen in the television series Huset på Christianshavn, whi ...
reported on August 11, 2006, "it was discovered that the
leveland Indiansmedia guide lists Indiana-born reliever Tom Mastny as being from Indonesia". Hagen's quote was part of a brief that was syndicated on several Internet news sites and subsequently was repeated by other writers and bloggers. That same weekend, it was reported that members of the
Society for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...
had contacted Mastny's father to confirm that, although the family hails from Indiana, the pitcher was indeed born on the Indonesian island of Borneo.
That the relatively unknown Mastny's biographical trivia would be subject to scrutiny is in part due to historical implications, as he is the first Indonesian-born player to reach the major leagues, as reported by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
columnist
Keith Law:
Cleveland farmhand Tom Mastny was born in Indonesia, although it was to American parents who wanted to travel the world. The 6-5 icMastny has a fringe-average fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...
but outstanding control, and with a good season so far between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo, he seems likely to become the first big leaguer born in Indonesia, which would become the 52nd country to produce a major league player.
References
External links
, o
MLB.com player info page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastny, Tom
1981 births
Living people
Akron Aeros players
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
Auburn Doubledays players
Baseball players from Indiana
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
Charleston AlleyCats players
Cleveland Indians players
Furman Paladins baseball players
Furman University alumni
Kinston Indians players
Leones del Caracas players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Indonesia
New Orleans Zephyrs players
Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers
People from Bontang
People from Zionsville, Indiana
Somerset Patriots players
Sportspeople from East Kalimantan
Yokohama BayStars players
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela