Injury a Good Thing?

After spring training kicked off and was well underway, Gary Matthews Jr was not. He strained a muscle in his ribcage at the beginning of spring training and learned it would sideline him until the regular season began. Normally, an injury keeping a baseball player off the field for the entirity of spring training puts a tremendous amount of undue stress on a his shoulders. Gary Matthews Jr, or GMJ as the fans in Arlington have begun using, didn't feel any of that pressure this spring. Along with getting good at-bats and getting into, no pun intended, the swing of things, preparing your mind for the upcoming season is just as important.
GMJ did just that. Texas Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo spent countless hours with Matthews talking about Gary's batting stance, mental approach, and visualisation. The result, at the All-Star Break: GMJ is hitting .328 with 10 HR and 47 RBI. Not to mention an OPS (On-Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage) of .912, higher than Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Miguel Tejada just to name a few.
Matthews also gets it done with the leather. I strongly believe most of us have seen his home-run robbing catch of Mike Lamb in one way or another. There is no need as of now to relive that jaw-dropping moment in sports history. With just two errors in the first half of the season, Matthews ranks among the top defensive outfielders in baseball as well.
The Matthews family has celebrated the fact that Gary Matthews Jr. and Sr. have both made the all-star game. Junior hopes to break that similarity though, because his father, "Sarge", as most people refer to him, only made the All-Star game once.
This week in Pittsburgh will represent not only hard work rewarded but also a dream come true.

Ya Baby.