Matthew Lawman

Matthew Desmond Lawman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.

• Born June 26, 1987 in Perth, Western Australia Australia

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Matthew Lawman won a batting title in Australia and two home run titles in the Czech Republic; he also played in the US.

Lawman played for Australia in the 2003 World Youth Championship. He signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2005. He debuted in the Claxton Shield in 2006, going 0 for 5 with a run as a defensive substitute for the Australian Provincials. That summer, he hit .256/.326/.279 for the GCL Twins but fielded only .914 at 2B. He tied another player from the eastern hemisphere, Taiwan's Chih-Hsien Chiang, for the most errors by a second baseman in the Gulf Coast League. Moving to the Victoria Aces in the winter of 2007, he saw little action for the Australian champs, going 0 for 5.

His defensive woes continued at (.907) with the 2007 Elizabethton Twins and his offense plummeted (.184/.317/.237, 23 R, 21 R in 38 G), ending his time in the Twins chain. He played poorly that winter in Australia (.172/.273/.276 in 8 G, .880 FLD%). In the summer of 2008, he was with the Laredo Broncos (.317/.386/.429 in 44 G) and Harlingen White Wings (.273/.335/.309 in 13 G), with 9 steals in 10 tries between the two United League Baseball clubs. He fielded better, .936 at 2B.

He did not play in Australia's top tournament in the 2009 Claxton Shield but returned with a vengeance in 2009-2010, hitting .423/.468/.549 for Victoria, though defense remained an issue (fielding only .833). He won the batting title by six points over Michael Collins, was 5th in slugging (between Patrick Maat and Andrew Graham) and was second in OBP (a distant 82 points behind Collins) but also led in errors (11, 4 more than anyone else).

After his strong 2009-2010, though, he sputtered in the 2010-2011 Australian Baseball League, hitting .193/.266/.285 in 35 games for the Melbourne Aces. He then played in the Czech Extraliga, hitting .349/.423/.605 with 12 homers, 47 runs and 47 RBI in 41 games for Technika Brno in 2011, fielding .910. He was 4th in the Extraliga in hits (60, between Jiří Marek and Martin Schneider), led in home runs (one over Marek), third in total bases (104, behind Alex Derhak and Marek), 6th in slugging, tied Martin Drong for third in runs, was second in RBI (6 behind Derhak) and tied for 10th in steals (9). He was third in errors committed (21) but also led in assists (116, 8 ahead of Drong).

In 2012, Lawman again hit well for Technika Brno: .399/.449/.755, 15 HR, 45 R, 73 RBI in 40 G. He stole 17 bases in 19 tries and again fielded .910. He tied for second in errors and led in assists (109). On the offensive leaderboards, he was 6th in average (between Schneider and Kellen Kmiecik), 3rd in slugging (behind fellow Aussie Tom Brice and Jan Drábek), again did not make the top 10 in OBP, was third in hits (65, 5 behind Jakub Malík and Drong), again led in homers by one over Marek, led in total bases (123, 13 over Marek), was 5th in runs (between Brice and a third Australian, Wayne Ough), easily led in RBI (19 over Marek) and was 7th in steals. In the 2012 European Cup, he hit well (6 for 17, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI) but fielded badly (5 errors, .737 FLD%, 4 errors in one loss to DOOR Neptunus). In the Rotterdam pool, he was 9th in average (between Jesus Golindano and Luc Piquet), 10th in slugging, tied for second in doubles and led in errors (one ahead of Matt Vance and Mirco Caradonna).

Sources

• Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac
• Australian Baseball Federation
• Australian Baseball League
• Czech Baseball Federation
• 2012 European Cup