By Jon Mozes
AltoonaCurve.com
As part of Black History Month, Minor League Baseball and the Curve are pleased to highlight some of recent members of the team and their accomplishments in the game.
Kieran Mattison managed the Curve during the 2022 season to a 71-66 record and now serves as the Pirates’ Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator. A former minor league pitcher with Kansas City and Cleveland, Mattison spent nine years playing professional baseball and managed for five seasons in the Pirates minor leagues.
Q: Who were some of your role models that inspired your interest in baseball and supported you during your playing career?
A: Jackie Robinson is one of my biggest role models. His story of being the first African American to play in the major leagues, it kind of gave me a goal and inspired a dream that I wanted to fulfill.
I had the luxury of meeting Buck O’Neil in my first spring training with Kansas City and I didn’t really know much about him, but someone introduced him to me and we just sat and talked for 15-20 minutes and after I did some research and realized that I had been sitting next to a legend. And that conversation made a big imprint on me in that no matter what direction my career goes to always represent black men in baseball in the right way so that younger men could have an opportunity just like I’d been gifted.
That same year in spring training, Dave Stewart at the time was the Pitching Coordinator for the Royals. And it was that year that he resigned his position and went into what he’s doing now as an agent. So I felt like it was a blessing in disguise for me to have Dave Stewart and listen to his stories and his wisdom about pitching. He believed in me as a player and coming into camp as an undrafted free agent who had gone to rookie-ball and a few weeks into camp, my roommate who was a draft pick [from the year before] got released so I was nervous! And Dave really took me under his wing and gave me an opportunity and didn’t look back. And I was able to take advantage of the opportunity that year.
Q: What were some of your favorite places to play in?
A: I really started honing in on baseball when I got to college. I remember my first weekend as a freshman in college, we played at South Carolina and the fans were tough. They were heckling, haha. And I was like ‘Okay, I’ve got to be mentally tough to play at this level.’ Then when I transferred to East Carolina as a sophomore, we had this place called The Jungle where fans went out and would heckle the other team and make it tough on them and that made it one of my favorite places to play when I was in college because we would win a lot when we played at home.
And then another place was playing at Clemson. My last game in college we played at Clemson and being from Anderson, South Carolina, that was the team I grew up watching and competing against them in my last college game was a moment I’ll never forget.
Q: Since we’re there, what are some of your most memorable moments from your playing career?
A: Playing in the 2003 Midwest League All-Star game comes right to mind. I got to meet Andre Dawson and Ryne Sandberg among others and on the team a lot of my teammates ended up playing in the major leagues. Guys like Prince Fielder and Nelson Cruz were there. I remember the game was at West Michigan, and I remember pitching in front of a huge crowd, something like 10-14 thousand people and I remember feeling kind of nervous. And then when I got on the mound, I loaded the bases with nobody out and I remember thinking to myself “Man, I can’t give this up in an All-Star Game!” The Manager came out to check on me and make sure I didn’t throw too many pitches and I told him I got this. Next guy hit into a double play with Erick Aybar and Alberto Callaspo turning it behind me and then I struck the next guy out to get out of the inning. Just having an opportunity to play with so many great players really made it a memorable experience for me.
It was my first full season of professional baseball with the Royals and that year I got promoted to High-A and when I got promoted I was actually filling in for Zack Grienke who got promoted to Double-A and I took his spot in the rotation.
Q: Who are some of the Negro League players that you know and want to learn more about?
A: Bob Gibson and Satchel Paige are two guys I read a lot about and I really look forward to going to the Negro League Museum in Kansas City. I was planning to meet the Pirates when they played at Kansas City last year and unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out for me then. But I really have a strong desire to go out there and spend time in the museum. I think it’s so important for African American men to understand the history of baseball and respect the history of what so many men have gone through while playing the game so I can better appreciate the opportunity that I had to play and to work in the game today. I try to do the best I can to pass the torch to the next generation that is coming behind me. That’s something that’s in the forefront of my mind [as a coach] is to represent for so many of the men that laid the groundwork for me.
Q: Is there something you would advocate for in the game of baseball today to help the game grow in its diversity?
A: I would love to see more African American men and women in a leadership role. As I’ve traveled throughout the minors, I realize I don’t see a ton of African American Managers and coaches on coaching staffs throughout the country. We can lead men, that’s what it’s all about when you’re managing, we obviously know the game because we played the game. But it’s about leading men and helping them develop on and off the field. I’m an active member of the Buck O’Neill Scouts and Coaches Association and that’s a very powerful group that I’m proud to be apart of. They have a meeting every fall and it really empowers you to know so many African American people who love the game and are passionate about it.
I think having more representation on a major league staff will help players on and off the field and that will help more African American men get an opportunity to Manage. To this day there hasn’t been an African American Manager for a major league team that hasn’t played in the major leagues and that is a dream I aspire to achieve in my career.
Stay tuned to the Around the Curve Blog throughout the month of February as we celebrate Black History Month by highlighting more recent members of the Curve and their accomplishments.
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