Former Major League Baseball star Gary Matthews Jr. has listed his Corona del Mar home in California for $3.55 million.
The one-storey Cape Cod-style home in Cameo Highlands was built in 1961 and underwent major renovation in 2005. Spread on a 3,000-square feet land, the property has spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. It comprises of four bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a den and an office, Realtor reports.
The interiors of the house features exposed beamed-ceilings, French doors, a country sink and Calcutta Gold countertops in the gourmet kitchen, a master suite coupled with a spa-style bathroom and a large cedar-lined closet. While the exteriors come with an entertainer's courtyard including a spa, fireplace, pool and a hot tub with waterfalls, Los Angeles Times reports.
The listing agent is Mark Taylor of HOM Sotheby's International Realty.
Matthews, 39, reportedly purchased the property for $3.05 million in February 2007, three months after signing a five-year, $50-million free-agent contract with the Angels.
As a Major League Baseball outfielder, Matthews played for nine teams including Padres (1999, 2003) in 12 years. He was selected to the All-Star team in 2006 while playing for the Texas Rangers. He is the son of former baseball player and Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Gary Matthews.
For Gary Mathews Jr., life was not always a smooth ride. In 2007, while playing for Los Angeles, Matthews along with other athletes got caught in an illicit steroid distribution network following a raid on two Orlando pharmacies and arrest of four company officials, Sabernomics reports.
The implication explained the sudden superior performance of a player who averaged .755 On-base Plus Slugging (OPS) in his career. In 2006, Mathews posted an .866 OPS, while he put up .780 in 2002, .675 in 2003, .811 in 2004 and .756 2005. Mathew's OPS for 2006 should have actually been .792.
An OPS is generally measured using following variables: line drives per batted ball, groundball-to-flyball ratio, walk rate, hit-by-pitch rate, strikeout rate, home run rate and Home park of the player, The Hardball Times reports.
Besides OPS, Season 2006 also proved to be a good year for Mathews in terms of homers when he hit two more of them that year as compared with 2005; his isolated power (SLG-AVG) increased from .181 in 2005 to .182 in 2006 and his BABIP was up to .349 compared to the .283 of 2005.
