Matt Walbeck Bio
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Matthew Lovick Walbeck was born on October 2, 1969 in Sacramento California.
The Chicago Cubs selected him in round eight of the 1987 MLB Draft. He made his Major League debut for them in 1993. Walbeck played 11 games for the Cubs, going 6-for-30 (.200) with one home run and six RBI. The Minnesota Twins acquired him via trade during the off-season.
Minnesota allowed Walbeck to get regular playing time at the big league level, starting him 89 times behind the plate in 1994. He hit .204 with five home runs and 35 RBI, catching a no-hitter thrown by Scott Erickson on April 27th and leading the American League by catching 42 potential base stealers. Walbeck continued at the Twins primary catcher in 1995, batting .257 with one home run and 44 RBI over 115 games. His role got smaller in 1996 after Minnesota signed veteran catcher Greg Myers. Minnesota traded him to the Detroit Tigers on December 11, 1996.
Walbeck played seven more big league seasons after leaving the Twins. He played for the Tigers (1997, 2002-03), the Anaheim Angels (1998-00) and Philadelphia Phillies (2001). His career slash line was .233/.280/.315 with 28 home runs and 208 RBI.
The Tigers hired Walbeck to manage in their minor league system immediately after he retired. He won two Midwest League championships in three years at the Class-A level, and was then moved up to manage in Double-A. The Texas Rangers hired him as their Major League third base coach in 2008, but he was let go after just one season. Walbeck has since managed in the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves farm systems.
Notable Events & Trivia
- 1994 AL caught stealing as catcher leader (42)
-
3x league champion as minor league manager
- 2004 Midwest League (Class-A)
- 2006 Midwest League (Class-A)
- 2010 Eastern League (Double-A)
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Catching Up With Former Twins Catcher Matt Walbeck
Matt Walbeck came to the Twins after the 1993 season as a highly-touted catching prospect. He spent three seasons learning under the tutelage of Tom Kelly. He spent parts of 11 seasons in the big leagues before beginning a career as a coach and manager. To this day, he continues to coach and train ballplayers at the Walbeck Baseball Academy. His passion for teaching and training ballplayers is evident. Let’s take a look back at the career of Matt Walbeck, and find out what he’s up to these days.
The All-Time Worst Twins: Matt Walbeck
This part of the deep offseason can be full of a lot of downtime for baseball fans. Lucky enough for readers of this site, I have been offering up profiles of some of the worst players in the history of the Twins franchise.
So far, the series has covered Butch Huskey, Rondell White, and Scott Klingenbeck. Huskey offered some entertaining moments in his brief Twins tenure. White had an All-Star career but his time in Minnesota was lacking. Klingenbeck showed some positive signs in the minor leagues before bottoming out at the big league level.
In all three of the previous posts in this series, I have asked for readers to chime in with their picks for the worst Twins of all-time. This week's featured player got plenty of votes over the last couple weeks and it made it tough to ignore his terrible time with the Twins.
Introducing, the latest installment in the "Worst Twins of All-Time Series"... Matt Walbeck
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