Matt Lawton

Matt Lawton

Matthew "Matt" Lawton, Jr. (born November 3, 1971) is a retired American professional baseball player whose career spanned 15 seasons, including 12 seasons in Major League Baseball. Lawton, an outfielder, made his major league debut September 5, 1995, with the Minnesota Twins, who signed him four years prior. He also played in the majors with the New York Mets (2001), the Cleveland Indians (2002–04), the Pittsburgh Pirates (2005), the Chicago Cubs (2005), the New York Yankees (2005), and the Seattle Mariners (2006). Over his major league career, Lawton compiled a .267 batting average with 1,273 hits, 267 doubles, 17 triples, 138 home runs, 631 runs batted in (RBIs), 165 stolen bases, and 681 walks in 1,334 games played.

Lawton was drafted by the Minnesota Twins during the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. A season later, he made is professional debut in the minor leagues with the Gulf Coast League Twins. He also played in the minors with the Fort Wayne Wizards (1993), the Fort Myers Miracle (1994, 1999), the Hardware City Rock Cats (1995), the Salt Lake Buzz (1996), and the Akron Aeros (2002–03). During his minor league career, Lawton compiled a .282 batting average with 460 hits, 95 doubles, 13 triples, 38 home runs, 206 RBIs, 114 stolen bases, 262 walks and 466 runs.

Lawton has won multiple awards over his career. He was selected to play in the 1994 Florida State League All-Star Game. He was also selected to play in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game twice, both times as a member of the American League team (2000, 2004). During the 2000 season, Lawton was named the Minnesota Twins Player of the Year. Some of Lawton's career has also proved controversial. After the 2005 season, he received a ten games suspension by Major League Baseball after testing positive to performance-enhancing drugs. Lawton did not appeal the suspension, instead acknowledging his use of the drugs. In a statement to the Associated Press, he apologized to "all those people that let down".