Matt Tyner

Matthew A. Tyner

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 188 lb.
• School University of Miami

• Born November 7, 1958

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Matt Tyner hit 79 homers and slugged .523 in four minor league seasons before injury ended his career. He later was a college coach.

Tyner was with the Miami Hurricanes in the 1978 College World Series, 1979 College World Series and 1980 College World Series. He was picked by the Baltimore Orioles in the 9th round of the 1980 amateur draft. He made his pro debut in the same city he played his college baseball, hitting .255/.363/.423 for the Miami Orioles. In '81, he had a big year for the Hagerstown Suns, producing at a .301/.384/.598 clip with 31 HR in 108 games. He tied Willie Royster for the most homers by an Orioles farmhand that year and led the Baltimore chain in slugging, beating out Cal Ripken Jr. among others. In the Carolina League, he ranked third in average (behind Brad Komminsk and Gerry Davis), third in homers (trailing the same two guys), 7th in RBI (one behind Darryl Strawberry, who played 15 more games) and third in slugging (again trailing Komminsk and Davis). The one drawback was defense - he fielded .854 at third base (51 games), his main position that year (he was normally an outfielder). He failed to make the league All-Star team, as Tom Hayes was picked at 3B, Komminsk, Davis and Paul Croft were the outfielders and Dave Rivera was the DH.

With the 1982 Charlotte O's, Matt's average fell but his power and walk rate remained strong for a batting line of .221/.347/.486. He hit 20 homers in 290 AB but struck out 88 times, while drawing 53 walks. He tied 7 other players for sixth in the Southern League in dingers. Tyner split 1983 between the Suns (.371/.516/.871 in 21 G, 21 RBI) and the Charlotte O's (.219/.361/.421, 14 HR, 60 BB in 89 G). He was third in the Baltimore chain in both home runs (behind Ken Gerhart and Larry Sheets) and walks (after Glenn Gulliver and Gerhart). Having had several surgeries on his right elbow by this point, he called it quits.

Tyner served two different stints as an assistant coach at Butler University before being head coach at Bellarmine University in 2012-2013. He coached at Butler again and University of Richmond before being named head coach at Towson University for 2018.

Sources

• Bellarmine bio
• 1981-1984 Baseball Guides