Matt Monagan

New York

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Writer and Editor at MLB

I write for @MLB. I went to Fordham. BBWAA. Bad news, rap dudes, I'm back fools.

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Articles

Hay estilos 'por encima del brazo'... y luego está la mecánica de este lanzador

5 days ago | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

Como bateador, normalmente intentas observar detalladamente a un lanzador nuevo una vez que él ingresa al juego. Podrías pararte justo afuera de tu dugout, tomar un bate y mirar fijamente hacia el montículo. Quizás le midas el tiempo a su recta. Tal vez puedas descubrir que está revelando el pitcheo cada vez que tira una curva. O puede ser que suelte un fuerte gruñido cada vez que realiza un cambio de velocidad.
There's 'over the top' -- and then there's this pitcher's delivery

6 days ago | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

As a hitter, you try to get a good look at a new pitcher once they enter the game. You might stand just outside your dugout, pick up a bat and stare out toward the mound. Maybe you time his fastball. Maybe you can find he's tipping his hand every time he throws a curveball. Maybe he lets out a loud grunt any time he delivers a changeup. But if you're facing Wayne State University of the D-II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference, you might see something you've never seen before.
Why MVP Baseball 2005 was one of greatest video games ever

1 month ago | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

There are lots of things you could've been doing during the summer of 2005. Maybe you were lazing the days away at the beach. Maybe you were blasting the Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk with My Heart" at a party off your iPod mini. Maybe you were scrolling through video after video on a new social media platform called YouTube.
Kodai Senga's ghost forkball now has its own song

1 month ago | bvmsports.com | Matt Monagan

The Mets were very good last year. Francisco Lindor nearly won the NL MVP. Their starting pitching stepped up in a big way down the stretch. Mark Vientos had a breakout season. The artist is Japan's Yusuke Kamiji, a successful singer who also played high school baseball with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Look for the song to be played during Senga's warmups, when he strikes out a batter with his supernatural pitch or really, probably, any time the camera is on him.
Kodai Senga's ghost forkball now has its own song

1 month ago | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

The Mets were very good last year. Francisco Lindor nearly won the NL MVP. Their starting pitching stepped up in a big way down the stretch. Mark Vientos had a breakout season. The artist is Japan's Yusuke Kamiji, a successful singer who also played high school baseball with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Look for the song to be played during Senga's warmups, when he strikes out a batter with his supernatural pitch or really, probably, any time the camera is on him.
Negro Leagues royalty and a barnstorming star in Japan: The overlooked Rap Dixon

2 months ago | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

Art by Tom Forget and Ana BenaroyaHow do most kids start playing baseball? Maybe they saw a game and wanted to hit long home runs like their big, giant heroes out on the field? Maybe they just had nothing better to do. Herbert Dixon completed only two years of high school. Purportedly Dixon’s schooling ended and his career in baseball started one day when his high school science teacher announced that the class was going to dissect a cat.
The wild story of how Billy Wagner went from righty to lefty

Jan 21, 2025 | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

On January 21, 2025, all-time great closer Billy Wagner was elected to the Hall of Fame. A version of this story originally ran in December 2020. It sounds like some sort of baseball folk tale, some ridiculous bedtime story your grandfather might tell you when you were a little kid and believed everything you heard. A young boy, growing up tough in the southern Appalachian corner of Tannersville, Va., breaks his right arm -- his natural arm -- twice, before the age of 7.
'Major League' director talks Uecker's classic character

Jan 16, 2025 | bvmsports.com | Matt Monagan

"In way, there is no 'Major League' without Bob Uecker," Director David S. Ward told me in a phone call. The world became a sadder and much less funny place on Thursday when it was announced that Bob Uecker passed away at the age of 90. Ueck, as he was lovingly referred to by anybody who knew of him, was a legendary baseball broadcaster. After a self-admittedly sub-par playing career, he served a remarkable 53 years in the Brewers radio booth.
The legend of Harry Doyle: 'Major League' director talks Uecker's classic character

Jan 16, 2025 | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

"In way, there is no 'Major League' without Bob Uecker," Director David S. Ward told me in a phone call. The world became a sadder and much less funny place on Thursday when it was announced that Bob Uecker passed away at the age of 90. Ueck, as he was lovingly referred to by anybody who knew of him, was a legendary baseball broadcaster. After a self-admittedly sub-par playing career, he served a remarkable 53 years in the Brewers radio booth.
¿Estadio flotante, en pleno mar? Por poco sucede en San Diego

Jan 14, 2025 | mlb.com | Matt Monagan

La famosa diseñadora y arquitecta irlandesa Eileen Gray probablemente lo expresó de la mejor forma posible a principios del Siglo XX:“Para crear, primero hay que cuestionarlo todo”. Es difícil saber si los miembros del consejo municipal de San Diego estaban familiarizados con Gray, esa cita o algo relacionado con la arquitectura en la década de los 60, pero definitivamente estaban cuestionando cómo podrían construirse los estadios deportivos.