Indy ball allowed Adams to fall in love with game again

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Matt Adams never thought he’d have to look for a job, not at this stage of his career.

Sure, the 34-year-old slugger hadn’t been a full-time big leaguer since 2019 with the Nationals, but he still managed to play in major league games for the Braves in 2020 and the Rockies in 2021, seasons that weren’t normal for reasons both personal (injuries) and on a broader scale (the pandemic).

But when the calls weren’t coming prior to the 2022 season, the small-town kid affectionately known as “Big City” decided to take the pride-swallowing step of sending out letters. He wrote to every general manager in the league, seeking a job. He got no takers.

And that’s when Adams finally came to grips with a harsh reality: His career was on the brink.

“It’s so easy to take things for granted in this game,” he said. “And I’ll be the first one to call myself out: The last couple years, I took things for granted. I thought I was always going to have a job. It was a real kick in the mouth when the phone didn’t ring, and I had to go that route.”

That route took Adams to Kansas City last summer. Not Kansas City, Mo., to play for the Royals. Kansas City, Kan., to play for the Monarchs of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball.

It’s a last resort for ballplayers who can’t find work anywhere else. The Monarchs’ roster was filled with guys who reached the upper levels of the minors but never advanced beyond that. Aside from Adams, only two other players had major league experience: Pete Kozma (whose name will send a shiver down any Nationals fan’s spine) and Gabriel Guerrero (nephew of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero and veteran of 14 games with the Reds in 2018).

It was there, in a barebones clubhouse filled with anonymous names and in front of an average crowd of 2,106 each night, that Adams found hope again. Not because he played well, though he did, launching 27 homers with an .881 OPS in 367 plate appearances. But because the circumstances forced him to remember why wanted to be a ballplayer in the first place.

“I think that experience – along with putting all the noise aside with the business side of the game, not worrying about if I was going to have a job or not – just putting that uniform on and focusing on competing each night, I think those things tied together allowed me to have a different outlook and gain that respect back for the game,” he said. “I fell back in love with putting the uniform on, going out there and competing in this game I love so much.”

When the season ended, the Monarchs having finished with the league’s best regular season record but falling short in the postseason, Adams decided it was time to send out another round of letters. He again reached out to all 30 MLB clubs. This time, he heard back from Mike Rizzo.

The Nationals’ GM had always liked and appreciated Adams from his two seasons in D.C. Though he had lost most of his playing time to Ryan Zimmerman, Howie Kendrick and Asdrubal Cabrera late in 2019, Adams was an integral clubhouse figure during the team’s World Series run.

And when the two met in person at a season-ticket-holder event Halloween weekend, Adams made a personal pitch on his own behalf.

“This is one of the best places I’ve played in my career,” he said. “I told him if there was an opening and a chance, I would love to come back.”

“With his resume and his service time, to go to indy ball says that he desperately wants to play in the big leagues again,” Rizzo said. “That resonated with me, his hunger to play in the big leagues again. Because guys with his service time and his track record rarely go to that extreme to continue to play. I respected that greatly, his love for the game and his willingness to do whatever it took to get those at-bats last year when the traditional route didn’t work.”

Thus was the groundwork for a reunion laid. The deal – a minor league contract with an invitation to major league camp – became official in December. It guarantees Adams nothing but a chance to prove himself again. But that’s all he ever wanted.

From the moment he arrived in the clubhouse at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches earlier this month, Adams’ attitude immediately drew the attention of others. An introvert by nature, he was bubbly now. The smile never left his face. The eagerness to share his comeback story was evident.

“The fact that he worked his way back to get invited to spring training tells you what kind of person he is,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He loves the game. I’m watching him now, and he’s having a lot of fun and working hard. He wants to break camp with us.”

Adams may want to break camp with the Nationals, but his path to a spot on the Opening Day roster is narrow. The Nats already have their share of first baseman/DH types, having signed Dominic Smith for $2 million this winter and having found a potential diamond in the rough last fall in 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses.

There’s perhaps one available spot on the bench, with Rizzo and Martinez left to decide if that should go to a fifth outfielder like Alex Call, Stone Garrett or Derek Hill, an extra infielder like Jake Alu, Michael Chavis or Jeter Downs, or a slugger with the potential to change the game with one swing like Adams.

“Dom’s a great player; I played against him a lot,” Adams said. “And I followed this team last year, even from afar, and seeing what Joey did was something special. But in my mind, I believe I’m going to make this team. That’s the confidence I found again.”

And if it happens, whether on Opening Day or sometime later in the season, if Adams makes it all the way back after a rejuvenating year in independent ball and steps to the plate at Nationals Park to a welcoming cheer from the crowd, what would that moment be like?

“I’m getting chills just thinking about it,” he said. “That felt like home. I fell in love with the group of guys in ’18 and ’19. To be able to put this uniform on again and play in Nats Park for the Nationals again, it would definitely be something special to me.”