With a fastball that approached triple-digits on the radar gun, Anderson was named the top college pitching prospect by Baseball America following an outstanding run as a short reliever at Rice University. Taken by Detroit with the #1 overall pick of the June 1997 draft, he was instantly projected as the Tigers' closer of the future.
In his first pro season, Anderson made the leap all the way from Class A to the major leagues, earning a promotion to Detroit in late June 1998. Sporting a devil-may-care attitude and a pierced tongue, he put together a promising rookie campaign that included a 5-1 record and a 3.27 ERA in 42 relief appearances. Twice his fastball was clocked at 103 MPH.
Anderson took at step backwards his sophomore season, however, and was sent down to Triple-A after struggling with control in May. He returned to the Tigers in August and finished the year with a 5.68 ERA in 37 outings, walking 32 and allowing eight home runs in 38 innings pitched. In his third season Anderson, who turned 24 in August 2000, produced more palatable results but still had yet to fully cash in on his estimable talent. While bullpen mate Todd Jones solidified his hold on the club's closer job with an All Star season, Anderson worked in a career-high 69 games, posting a 3-2 record with one save and 4.72 ERA, allowing 61 hits while fanning 71 in 74 1/3 innings.
Anderson ran into trouble with the law in October 1998, when he signed for an overnight package that contained marijuana. He admitted using the drug, but told police the delivery was intended for teammate (and housemate) Robert Fick. (AGL/JGR)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»June 3, 1997:
The annual June amateur draft features two brothers being drafted in the first round. Ignoring J.D. Drew's warnings about not drafting him unless they're ready to pay out, the Phils take the FSU junior with the 2nd pick, while the Indians take his brother Tim Drew, a high school senior, with the 28th pick: it's the first time brothers have been picked in the same first round. In another first, Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, VA, has two players picked on the first round; Michael Cuddyer, a SS, by the Twins with the 9th pick, and pitcher John Curtice, by the Red Sox with the 17th pick. The number one pick overall is Rice University pitcher Matt Anderson by the Tigers, who skip over J.D. Drew because of the anticipated cost. Anderson was the WAC Tournament MVP and the top pitching prospect in the Cape Cod League last summer. Drew, The Sporting News College Player of the Year, is the first Division I player in history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in one season.
»May 19, 2002:
The Detroit Tigers stage a unique promotion -- an octopus–throwing contest in honor of the Stanley Cup Western Conference Championship Series, which began yesterday at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Throwing boiled octopi on the ice is a hockey tradition in Detroit. Each participant in the Tigers' contest threw the octopi at a target with the winner getting a limo ride to the nearby Arena and tickets to the second game of the Conference Championship. Tiger pitchers Jeff Weaver and Matt Anderson try their luck along with fifty fans, but neither pitcher hits his target. The Rangers must've thought they were hitting octopus, as they lose the game, 2–1. Seth Greisinger allows one run in six 2/3 innings, and Dmitri Young's homer in the 4th snaps a 1–1 tie.
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