PINK SCARS on Aaron Mathews' forearms bear a reminder of his 2007 All-Star season with the Fisher Cats.
The center fielder dove for a ball in the gap, landing in the coarse warning track at Merchantsauto.com Stadium. He didn't make the catch but made an impression on everyone at the park.
"I laid out. There's rocks out there, and it just tore me up. I came back all bloodied and bashed. It was great," said a smiling Mathews before last night's game against Connecticut.
Ex-manager Bill Masse always referred to his outfielder as "The Gamer," a compliment reserved for hard-nosed players and good teammates.
Last season, Mathews played three games with a broken rib after diving into third base. "Then one morning I woke up and couldn't get out of bed. I finally got the x-ray and had to miss two-and-a-half weeks," he said.
Mathews, a 19th-round pick who played with Jacoby Ellsbury at Oregon State, played the final two months of 2007 with a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder.
More recently, he needed a cortisone shot in his right shoulder to ease some pain and keep playing without missing a beat.
"It's been hurting for about a month, so I figured, hell, I might as well get a cortisone shot to keep going. I don't care," he said. "Everybody plays with injuries. Some guys are more tolerant of pain than others. I really don't like to show I'm injured. Your adrenaline takes over any way, and you don't notice the pain."
The 26-year-old entered last night with a .297 average and team-leading 78 hits. Mathews is a strong candidate to be named to his second straight Eastern League All-Star Game.
He's ready for a job at Triple-A, and the same can be said for fellow outfielder Ryan Patterson, leading the Fisher Cats with 11 homers.
"Aaron's been as consistent a player we've had all year. He's proven himself at this level for two years now," Fisher Cats manager Gary Cathcart said. "I just keep telling him, Keep doing what you're doing.' Hopefully his time will come."
Mathews plays a Reed Johnson-like outfield, able to play all three positions and unafraid to crash into walls. A National League scout last night said, "I can see him willing his way to the big leagues. He's a blue-collar-type with good makeup. I've always liked the way he plays. He's a gamer."
Growing up in the small town of John Day, Ore. -- "a county with one traffic light," he said -- Mathews learned how to operate a ranch, riding horses and branding cattle. He prefers a low-key lifestyle off the field, a stark contrast to his approach between the lines.
But a full-throttle approach doesn't always work in baseball. Mathews can be too aggressive at the plate, swinging at a pitcher's pitch instead of working the count in his favor. Forty-five strikeouts and 21 walks is a ratio in need of improvement.
In the first inning last night, Mathews swung at the first pitch from Connecticut's Adam Cowart and bounced harmlessly to shortstop. In the fourth, he saw three pitches and doubled home Chris Gutierrez to pick up his 40th RBI, tying Jacob Butler and Travis Snider for the team lead.
"That might be one of the last pieces of his offensive puzzle, his command of the strike zone. He knows it," Cathcart said. "That goes back to the way he plays the game. Once in a while, he's got to throttle back a little back. If he gets a 2-0 count and gets something in his zone, he can really do some damage. He's let some pitchers off the hook this year by not being patient enough."
It's not a stretch to picture Mathews in the big leagues, contributing 10-12 homers, breaking up double plays and tearing up the outfield turf.
At least for now, Fisher Cats fans can still enjoy watching Mathews giving it all in Manchester.
"I like coming out here playing hard for my teammates," he said. "I like playing hard for the organization and playing hard for the fans."
__
Staff writer Kevin Gray covers baseball for the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. His e-mail address is kgray@unionleader.com
