Herts Falcons have added pitcher Matt Gilbert to their roster. We understand that he was registered on Thursday night or Friday morning making him eligible to play in Sunday’s Opening Day games. This is a major coup for Herts as Gilbert is a legend in British baseball.
In the last two seasons he played for the Harlow Nationals winning the NBL national championship in 2013. In his NBL career spanning 17 years, he has also played for the Bracknell Blazers, Essex Arrows, Cambridge Monarchs and Bracknell-Richmond Wildfire.
|
MATT GILBERT – NBL BATTING STATS |
|||||||||
|
TEAM |
SEASON |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BA |
OBA |
SLA |
|
Cambridge Monarchs |
1998 |
54 |
26 |
27 |
8 |
26 |
0.500 |
0.550 |
1.056 |
|
Cambridge Monarchs |
2001 |
76 |
15 |
33 |
2 |
14 |
0.434 |
0.450 |
0.618 |
|
Bracknell-Richmond Wildfire |
2002 |
10 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0.200 |
0.273 |
0.200 |
|
Bracknell Blazers |
2003 |
28 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
4 |
0.357 |
0.379 |
0.357 |
|
Essex Arrows |
2010 |
63 |
11 |
17 |
2 |
17 |
0.270 |
0.355 |
0.413 |
|
Essex Arrows |
2011 |
46 |
15 |
18 |
0 |
20 |
0.391 |
0.525 |
0.478 |
|
Essex Arrows |
2012 |
57 |
9 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0.263 |
0.368 |
0.316 |
|
Harlow Nationals |
2013 |
54 |
13 |
17 |
0 |
7 |
0.315 |
0.479 |
0.333 |
|
Southern Nationals |
2014 |
21 |
3 |
8 |
0 |
2 |
0.381 |
0.517 |
0.476 |
Source: Project COBB
Last year Matt Gilbert became the first player in modern British baseball history to pass a half-century of recorded complete games, moving to a total of 54. Gilbert now has 408 career strike-outs, and his next strike-out will draw him level with Cody Cain’s modern British record of 409. We understand that one of the reasons why Gilbert decided to play this season is his aim of setting a new record. In the process of doing so he can also help the Falcons to be in the playoff race this season. It is not clear whether Gilbert will continue playing if he breaks the strikeout record. Herts fans will certainly hope that the club will be able to convince him to stay longer.
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MATT GILBERT – NBL PITCHING STATS |
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|
TEAM |
SEASON |
W |
L |
ERA |
SV |
CG |
SO |
SO/9IP |
|
Cambridge Monarchs |
2001 |
6 |
7 |
3.54 |
0 |
12 |
118 |
10 |
|
Bracknell-Richmond Wildfire |
2002 |
1 |
2 |
2.25 |
0 |
1 |
15 |
11.3 |
|
Bracknell Blazers |
2003 |
3 |
3 |
3.48 |
0 |
4 |
38 |
8.3 |
|
Essex Arrows |
2010 |
2 |
11 |
9.59 |
0 |
11 |
72 |
8.5 |
|
Essex Arrows |
2011 |
5 |
5 |
5.56 |
0 |
8 |
65 |
8.6 |
|
Essex Arrows |
2012 |
3 |
6 |
5.65 |
0 |
8 |
33 |
5.8 |
|
Harlow Nationals |
2013 |
3 |
1 |
5.63 |
1 |
4 |
30 |
5.6 |
|
Southern Nationals |
2014 |
2 |
3 |
6.12 |
0 |
6 |
37 |
6.7 |
Can he break the record? No one knows what manager Lee Manning will decide in terms of his pitcher selection on Opening Day this Sunday, but if Gilbert gets on the mound, we may witness a new NBL record at Grovehill Ballpark.
SCHEDULE AT GROVEHILL BALLPARK
10:30am, Herts Falcons vs South London Pirates (NBL)
1:00pm, South London Pirates vs Southampton Mustangs (NBL)
1:00pm, Herts Eagles vs London Metros (Triple-A League)
3:30pm, Southampton Mustangs vs Herts Falcons (NBL)
3:30pm, Herts Eagles vs London Metros (Triple-A League)
FOOD AND DRINKS
Apart from five cracking baseball games, fans coming to Grovehill Ballpark this Sunday can look forward to the famous Herts hot dogs as well as many other snacks and drinks. The Herts shop will also be offering Herts, MLB and other baseball merchandise. Admission is free. Click here for directions to Grovehill Ballpark.