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Matt Szczur, a 2013 Southern League All-Star baseball player and the center fielder for the Tennessee Smokies (the Chicago Cubs’ AA affiliate in the Southern League) has given away a unique gift — bone marrow.
Days after Szczur (pronounced Caesar) led Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pa., to the 2009 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national title, he underwent a four-hour procedure to help save the life of a 15-month-old girl with leukemia. The baby, who he did not know, had a one-in-80,000 chance of finding a match.
He was aware of the risks of giving his peripheral blood cells. The medicine he had to take before and after the January 2010 operation treated the body as if it had mononucleosis. He missed 10 games of Villanova’s 2010 baseball season.
“It was awesome,” said Szczur, 24, despite the missed playing time. “It was great to be a part of something like that.”
Via Skype, Szczur met the girl, from Ukraine, who received his bone marrow.
It didn’t faze Szczur knowing the medications could affect his play. In the championship win over Montana, Szczur gained 270 yards, including a career-high 159 yards rushing, and scored two touchdowns.
“Extraordinary” can describe his two-sport college career and professional baseball career. In 2009, he was selected as one of the top 10 Most Electrifying FCS Offensive Players.
That season, he caught 51 passes for 610 yards and four touchdowns. At running back, he gained 813 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. He also quarterbacked.
“They used me as a versatile guy,” Szczur said. “I played everywhere.”
Career-wise he is tied for fifth in school history with 30 career touchdowns.
He played baseball two seasons at Villanova and was first team All-Big East Conference. He ranks fifth all-time with a .392 career batting average and is third in triples with nine. He had 142 hits, scored 85 runs and had 62 RBI. He was the Wildcats’ first .400 hitter since 1997, batting .443. His fielding percentage was .976.
The Cubs drafted Szczur in the fifth round (160th overall) of the 2010 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft.
He has been an all-star in three leagues: with Peoria, Ill., in the Midwest League in 2011; with Daytona in the Florida State League in 2012; and with the Southern League in July 2013. At press time, he was leading the Southern League with 512 at-bats and 144 hits. He was third in runs scored with 78 and seventh in batting average, coming in at a mark of .281. He also played for Team USA in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in 2011.
His best baseball experience came in 2011 when Daytona won the league championship. Before being promoted to Tennessee in 2012 he led the Florida State League with 68 runs and 38 stolen bases.
Szczur is rated the Cubs’ No. 14 prospect by Baseball America and is on the Cubs’ 40-man roster.
“Everything that everybody says is true,” said former teammate Dustin Harrington. “He is a great baseball player. Matt is a great athlete, a great football player in college. I know he could have probably played in the NFL.”
Matt Cerda, a former teammate who is now a third baseman with the Memphis Redbirds, called Szczur a “game-changer. He comes out and works hard and makes anything happen.”
Center field is Szczur’s prayer closet. He goes there to pray before every game and he prays every night. Faith sustains him.
“I instill that, and God takes over and helps me through the day,” he said.
Faith also helps him deal with baseball’s humbling nature.
“You can go 0 for 5 or 5 for 5,” Szczur said. “The next day you have to come out here and battle. You have to overcome obstacles every day.”
The 140-game season is a grind, and there is competition at every turn.
Inspiration comes through his goal to succeed.
“I am here to make it to the big leagues,” he said.
Szczur strives for something else as well.
“I want to be happy,” he said. “If I am happy, no matter what I am doing, I’ll be fine.”
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