More memories of Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz

A memorial service will be held later this morning for former Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Glendale, Ariz. Teammates and the friends made through his years in baseball are gathering to celebrate his life.

That’s how they want to treat the day. To smile through the tears and to remember and share the many stories. To comfort and console.

Matusz, the fourth-overall pick in the 2008 draft out of the University of San Diego who appeared in 280 games in eight seasons, passed away on Jan. 6 at his home in Phoenix. He was only 37.

The Orioles turned Matusz into a lefty specialist out of the bullpen and he posted ERAs of 3.53, 3.48 and 2.94 in a combined 186 games from 2013-15. He made one start for the Cubs in 2016 and received a World Series ring. Attempts to extend his career took him to Triple-A Reno, Mexico and the independent Atlantic League, his last innings pitched in 2019.

Matusz was the bullpen coach for Baseball New Zealand in the 2022 World Baseball Classic, a final chance to remain close to the sport that he loved.

Police were called to Matusz’s residence after Mike and Elizabeth Matusz found their son unresponsive. The outpouring of love and support since the news broke is appreciated but can ease only a small part of the pain during an excruciatingly difficult time in their lives.

“We were so fortunate for Brian to play baseball at the University of San Diego and to play baseball in Baltimore for the Orioles,” Mike said this week. “We fell in love with both cities. I had been to San Diego before but I had never been to Baltimore. We fell in love with both cities, and both cities fell in love with Brian, which is really cool.

“It couldn’t have been a better city to pick him, as far as I’m concerned. We couldn’t have been more fortunate.”

Matusz was the Orioles’ nominee for the prestigious Robert Clemente Award in 2015. He served as ambassador for the Casey Cares 5K Run/Walk at Camden Yards benefiting critically ill children and their families, returning to Baltimore even after he left the Orioles, and he made frequent visits to the pediatric patients at the Herman and Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai Hospital on behalf of the foundation. He also was on the advisory board.

The nonprofit organization is starting an awards program and Matusz will be the first honorary, which will be presented to his parents. They were told last night.  

Casey Baynes, CEO of Casey Cares Foundation
“Brian was an incredible supporter of Casey Cares and, more importantly, an incredible person. He was the kind of person who lit up a room, not just with his talent, but with his kindness and warmth. Brian didn’t just lend his name to our cause, he gave his time, energy and heart to truly make a difference in the lives of critically-ill children and their families.

“He understood how important it was to bring joy and hope to those who needed it most. Whether he was visiting kids in hospitals, cheering them on, or helping us raise awareness, Brian always went above and beyond. He didn’t do it for recognition. H did it because he genuinely cared.

“The news stories may focus on a single moment, but the Brian we knew was so much more. A passionate, caring and generous soul who left a lasting impact on everyone he met.”

Former manager Dave Trembley
“What a tragic loss. I remember Brian with that look in his eye, a sparkle. Boy, did he love to compete. He was so locked in when he pitched, the next day so easy going. One of the nicest and best teammates on the club. 

“I used to see his parents Sunday mornings, Mass in the warehouse with Father Bauer. Tremendous people. Brian, (Chris) Tillman, (Jake) Arrieta, (Adam) Loewen, David Hernanadez, we named them ‘the cavalry.’ Time is precious.”

Former University of San Diego baseball coach Rich Hill
“Brian, he just had so many friends at USD. There’s a real tight pack and those guys just all show up for each other. It’s pretty amazing to see. All those guys come together and go through college and really grow up before your eyes and become these unbelievable young men, pillars in their communities, and Brian was right in the thick of it with all those guys.

“He was just such a likable, genuine guy. A very, very gentle spirit off the field. And on the mound, he was a tiger, right? He was extremely poised and he had that look in his eyes and he was very, very competitive. As you saw all those years. He endeared himself to his teammates and coaches right away. Brian was the first big-time recruit that we got at USD, and he really changed the direction of that program. We were nationally ranked for 19 years in a row or something like that, and it all started in ’06 with the sweep of No. 1 Texas with Brian and that group that he came in with. He just put us on the map. He was a generational-type pitcher for a college coach. He blazed the trail for everybody.

“I remember Brian showing up at campus in his sandals and jeans. … As a coach, it’s a unique relationship. You get to know the parents really well. Mike and Liz are Hall of Fame parents, and his brother (Chris). You become very close and very connected. Really, they become part of your family, and to lose one of your sons, it’s very hard to process. Probably like a parent losing a child, it’s just not right, it’s not how this thing is supposed to go.”

Shortstop J.J. Hardy
“I always enjoyed being around B-Mat. He was a great teammate who took care of his business and worked very hard.”

Catcher Matt Wieters
“Brian was one of the best teammates I ever played with. Always excited to get on the mound. It was like it was his debut every time he got to pitch. He cared so much for his teammates and never turned down an opportunity to listen and help a teammate in need. He was a good kid who matured into a great man. He was humble and kind every day I was around him. The world is going to miss his awesome smile and heart.”

Outfielder Nolan Reimold
“Brian and I shared most of our MLB days together. I was called up in May of 2009 and he followed in August of the same year. His talent on the field was undeniable, but one of the memories that always makes me smile is his love for a good glass of milk. After road trips, while we were unpacking, Brian could always be found in the kitchen enjoying a bowl of Frosted Flakes … with a lot of milk.

“He'd often stop by our hotel room after games just to hang out with my family and kids. He was such a genuinely good guy, kind to everyone he met. It’s incredibly tough to believe that he’s gone.”

Jenny Reimold, Nolan’s wife
“We are truly so saddened to hear about Brian's passing. Nolan and Brian both played for the Orioles for the majority of their careers, so Brian was always a fixture after games and in the hotels. I will always think of him for his kindness and his reserved and witty sense of humor. 

“Brian and I kept in touch through social media and about a year ago we talked about family and what the future may hold. He even playfully agreed to make an appearance on my Instagram as an eligible bachelor, and we shared many laughs over it. Brian’s easy-going nature and genuine friendship made him such a special person, and he will be deeply missed by so many who were lucky enough to know him.”

Pitcher Steve Johnson
“I first met Brian in 2009 when I was traded to the Orioles and sent to Bowie. The next day, he got called up to the big leagues. It was the first time I experienced someone getting ‘the call,’ and it was such a cool moment to celebrate with him, even though we had just met.

“I’ll always remember him being one of the first to congratulate me in the Seattle clubhouse after I was called up, mentioning that his debut number was also 52 and joking that he might want it back one day. Later that year, sitting with him and the rest of the pitchers during the final innings of that 18-inning game in Seattle, brainstorming rally ideas before we finally got the win. And watching him strike out Josh Hamilton in the 2012 Wild Card game, then joking afterward about going with a great ‘head pump’ instead of a fist pump while spraying champagne everywhere celebrating the win.

“The baseball community is like an extended family. We spend so much time together every day at the fields, traveling, and after games. Losing a great friend and teammate like Brian is heartbreaking. I’m really grateful for the memories I have with him over the years, and the impact he had on everyone and the community will always stay with me.”

Reliever Andrew Miller
“This one hurts. It’s been hard to get out of my head. It’s just heartbreaking. I wish somebody had been able to help him. It pains me to think that he was going through so much and nobody could get him to a different spot.

“Brian was a clubhouse favorite. When I got there, he wasn’t exactly where he wanted to be, thought he was a starting pitcher still, and at the same time, he was just all about the team and doing his job. Being happy. He helped out with anybody who came to the field. Any sort of charity event, he was always kind of in the middle of it. A guy who was always smiling and fun to be around.

“The game can be very hard and very cruel and not go your way, and to able to separate the two and be such a genuinely positive person, I think he epitomized that. It seemed like he was such a good guy who was always smiling and always there to help and support others. When (public relations director) Monica Barlow got sick, the relievers had this meeting and did fundraising and found ways to honor her, and Brian was in the thick of that. He was passionate about those things and being able to take his position of good fortune and try to help others. That’s the kind of guy he was.

“It’s been hard on me. The night I found out he passed, I texted both Darren (O’Day) and Zack Britton. Those guys that were close to him and spent years and years with him, I can’t imagine. I hadn’t lost somebody like that in my life and this has affected me quite a bit, and I can only imagine what they’re going through and the feelings of what could have been done. It’s eating me up. It’s so terrible and heartbreaking, and hopefully he’s in a better place now.”

First baseman Chris Davis
“I was really saddened to hear. I wasn’t 100 percent surprised because I had heard that he was really struggling, but you don’t ever expect anything like that to happen to a friend or teammate. It kind of caught me off-guard. I think the biggest thing that really bothered me was that he felt like he didn’t have anybody who he could turn to, and that wasn’t the case. When we played together, we were a close-knit group of guys, and that’s one of the things that I keep focusing on, because it’s sad.

“All the time that we spent together off the field, doing the Casey Cares stuff, to me that’s who Brian was. He just had a huge heart. He was a very caring person. He was fun to be around. It always blew me away and was something I really admired about him was how much he poured into those Casey Cares kids and did stuff for kids who had been dealt a tough hand. And he didn’t have to do that. He did that because he wanted to, and I just think that’s a testament to who he was as a person and what kind of heart he had.

“I’m thinking about his parents and his brother and his family and his friends and everybody that’s having to deal with it. It’s not easy.”

Catcher Caleb Joseph
“Never forget meeting him for the first time when we walked into the Aberdeen clubhouse. Tall, lanky guy with a happy-go-lucky look on his face. He gave off surfer dude vibes and was so easy to be around. He housed me on three separate occasions, taking me in, wanting nothing in return. Was always so generous with his resources. He believed in me in the minor leagues, always pumping me up, filling me up with confidence. Very selfless human.

“Best left-handed changeup I ever caught, without exception. He was a key member of our bullpen.”

Reliever Brad Brach
“B-Mat was an amazing teammate and friend I had the privilege of spending close to three entire seasons with while in Baltimore. When you spend as much time together as we did down in the bullpen, the seven of us truly became more like brothers than just teammates. Brian always had a goofy and amazing sense of humor. When he actually thought something was funny, you got his genuine laugh, which didn’t happen all the time, but one that you couldn’t help to laugh out loud yourself regardless of what he was laughing at. His quiet demeanor was just a cover for the true competitor that hid deep in him that you caught glimpses of anytime he took the mound.  

“I don’t know if there is a record for the most consecutive Crab Shuffle victories in a row at Camden Yards, but if there is, B-Mat surely holds it. Anytime during the inning they had that shuffle on the board, he would cock his head to the side and completely block out everyone and everything around him to make sure he got the correct crab. It was truly a feat to behold.

“The only attribute to outweigh all the rest was his love and respect for his teammates. It was not often you saw the defensive or aggressive side of Brian, but it came out anytime he was defending or sticking up for a teammate. A PG version of a story I saw this firsthand was a game in Milwaukee one season. We walked out to the bullpen and as what occurs a lot, the fans like to yell at us as we took our spot to watch the game. This one night, this guy crosses the line and went after one of us down there. Before anyone knew how to react or what to say, B-Mat was at that guy’s throat, and may or may not have threatened to steal away the girl that was with him at that game, right then and there.

“Everyone was stunned at how fast and how heated he got so quickly. Before we knew what to say to Brian, he had that big smile on his face as if he couldn’t believe he actually said what he said. He starts laughing, and every single guy in the bullpen started crying laughing. That to me was Brian. Always wanted to enjoy the good times, but he was first to protect those closest to him, and his competitiveness couldn’t help but to come out and win no matter what the situation was.

“I was lucky enough to spend as much time with Brian as I did and I’m a better person for it. I think he would want us to remember to enjoy life’s moments as they come to us and to love and protect those closest to us with all we have. He is sorely missed. Love you, B-Mat.

Outfielder and executive Brady Anderson
“He was funny, he was fun to be around. To a high degree. He wasn’t petty, meaning, whether he was struggling – like when he started 1-10 – no matter what, he rooted for his teammates. There can be a tendency when you’re struggling to not love when other people are doing great, even if they’re your own teammates. It can happen. I’ve seen it before. It’s not pretty. But he was so positive and engaged in his teammates’ success. You never heard him say anything negative and rooted for them wholeheartedly, no matter what was going on in his own life.

“The other thing I admired about him was, he was at his lowest point in his career when he came to ask for my help, and he hadn’t prior to that. We had always been cordial and friends, but he didn’t ask for help until he was 1-10. From that day on, he rededicated himself in a way that I thought was amazingly impressive. That’s not an easy thing to do, to admit that you need help when you’ve never had a hiccup up to that point. You’re a high pick and fast-track to the major leagues. It was smooth sailing for him until that disastrous start, and he worked and worked and worked.

“After a game, I didn’t have to come get him. I’d come into the weight room and he’s sitting there in his weight lifting shoes. First thing he said every day was, ‘What have we got?’ Whether he had anything that day or not, he was always there waiting, and he became an integral part of the team.

“He had some bad days in his career, but he never had a bad day. When he came to the park, when you talked to him, he was friendly, funny. He would say funny stuff all the time. When people remember him, I think that’s what they’re going to remember.”

Closer Zack Britton
“I stayed in touch with him. I talked to him in November. The things I remember the most is a lot of the minor league stuff, coming up together, sitting on those bus rides together. Kind of going through that stuff, you get to know somebody really well. In simple terms, he was a really good friend to me. In the minors it’s like this competition where, you hate to say it, but there’s that kind of wanting a little bit of somebody else to fail so you get promoted. Brian and I, and Arrieta and Tillman, we never had that.

“Especially me and Brian, being left-handed. And Brian was a first-rounder, so I looked up to Brian. I wanted to learn from him, and he was so good. I knew that he didn’t want me to fail. He was like, ‘We’re going to get there together and we’re going to do great things together.’ He was really supportive. He was like that really throughout my career and the whole time we played together. We just shared a lot of stuff, what friends do, like joking in the clubhouse and things that he was interested in. We talked about his brother Chris all the time. His parents, I got to know them. I feel like we were attached at the hip for a long time.

“He loved Casey Cares. I know he loved doing stuff with the kids. I know he struggled. Maybe not to the extent, but I knew he was dealing with stuff, but he was still a good friend. He checked in on me and my family. The last text I have from him is this long text about my career and how happy he was for me and how proud he was of me. What I took out of it was he was so happy that we have a friendship. That was the thing he was most proud of.

“We just went through a lot. We grinded through the offseason and we struggled together. I feel like when you struggle with somebody, you get to know them, right? You’re at your lowest points. It’s been really, really hard. He was funny, he was loyal to you. If he thought you were his friend, he’d do anything for you. That’s the Brian I remember. He was good to people. He really was.”

Former manager Buck Showalter
“That was a special time in Baltimore. Those guys were very close and we stayed together for, what, three, four, five years? That was a close group. I’ve talked to some of them, like Britton, and they could barely talk about it.

“I talked to Brian, I guess, three or four times. I could tell he was struggling with the concept that he wasn’t going to play professional baseball anymore or be involved in it. He had his hands in a little bit of everything, trying to stay connected. But I think sometimes we all underestimated how much it meant to him. He had three good years for us out of the bullpen, but there wasn’t a day that went by when he wasn’t trying to figure out a way to get back in the rotation. He was always trying to get me to commit to another opportunity.

“I feel for him. I liked him. How do you not like Brian? He smiled easily, was a great teammate. There was a lot more to him. I try to remember … Brian had a good heart. There was nothing mean about him. But he was competitive. I’ll tell you what he had from a baseball standpoint, he had a talented hand. He could manipulate the baseball. He had long fingers. He could throw a fastball, curveball, slider and a changeup, and all of them would be different. Not many people can do that. I look back at our success, he had a big role. Basically, he shut down Big Papi (David Ortiz) and all those left-handed hitters that the Yankees had after the fifth inning.

“He always had a smile on his face, he loved baseball, he loved being a part of the Orioles. I remember Brian was the reason why we won a game, and on the flight back they’re all playing cards. I walked down the aisle and he gave me that big smile of his. He was at peace then. I hope he’s always that way now.”