As the son of a man known as “D.J. Fireman Joe,” J.J. Matijevic knows a thing or two about puttin’ on the hits.
His playground, however, is not the Rialto in Greensburg — where dad plays music when not on duty as the Jeannette fire chief — but on the baseball field as a smooth swinging junior first baseman at the University of Arizona.
“I’m a music guy, too,” said Matijevic, a Norwin High grad. “He plays everything. Me? I listen to a lot of rap, that type of stuff. Music is definitely a big part of my life.”
The sound of Matijevic’s bat striking the ball has been music to the ears of Wildcats fans, who are witnessing a Ted Williams-like run by the left-handed hitter.
He ranks seventh in the NCAA with a .400 average and is second with 27 doubles.
“I wouldn’t trade the dude for anybody in the country walking up to the plate,” Arizona coach Jay Johnson said of Matijevic, who has hit safely in 14 of his past 15 games. “Anybody.”
Matijevic tops the Pac-12 in a whopping six offensive categories, including average, doubles, RBIs (61), hits (86), slugging percentage (.665) and total bases (143).
He’s third in the conference with 10 home runs and 53 runs scored and fourth in on-base percentage (.447).
You might say this music lover has found his rhythm for the 15th-ranked Wildcats (36-17, 15-12).
“This is all pretty humbling,” said Matijevic, who is up for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, presented annually to the nation’s top amateur baseball player. “I honestly don’t even try to pay attention to the statistics.”
Others do, including Baseball America, which projects him as a second- or third-round pick in next month’s MLB draft. It is quite the endorsement for a player who hit just .238 as a freshman and .287 last season.
A change in his swing, combined with a tireless work ethic, fueled the transformation.
“Things are coming together,” said Matijevic, who opted for college after being taken in the 22nd round by the Boston Red Sox in 2014. “Since my senior year of high school, I worked hard toward being drafted. I didn’t play basketball that season because I wanted to focus on baseball. I’ve never stopped working, and I won’t stop after I get drafted. My dream is to play in the major leagues.”
Matijevic, 6 feet 1, 199 pounds, paused, before expressing uneasiness with focusing on himself. Team success, he believes, trumps individual accolades.
“The most important thing to me is the 35 players and the coaches here,” he said.
Matijevic is focused on leading the Wildcats back to the finals of the College World Series, where they lost a heartbreaker, 4-3, in the third and deciding game last season to Coastal Carolina. The Wildcats appear to be rounding into postseason form, having won 9 of 11, including five in a row, entering this weekend’s final regular-season series against California.
“Losing in the CWS hurt then and it still hurts now,” said Matijevic, who starred in the famed Cape Cod League this summer, batting .357 with 5 homers, 25 RBIs and 11 doubles. “We all want to get back there.”
Matijevic is the epitome of a lead-by-example athlete, according to Johnson. On game days, he religiously arrives at the field eight hours before the opening pitch. His routine consists of conditioning, batting practice, a quick break, more batting practice and finally defensive work.
This thirst for greatness not only sets him apart at the collegiate level, but sets the tone for the Arizona program.
“If you don’t know him and only observe what he does on the field, it’s hard to grasp how much he means to this team,” Johnson said. “All the young players look up him. Everyone gravitates to him. In terms of baseball stuff, he’s given us one moment after another this year. But it’s what he brings away from the field that is just as important.”
Rarely does a day go by that Johnson won’t hear an MLB scout say, “Tell me about the Matijevic kid.” To this, Johnson offers an in-depth response about his humble superstar.
“J.J.’s easy to talk about because I believe in his talent immensely,” Johnson said. “But I also get to talk about what he can bring to an organization as a person. And when you put those things together, you’re talking about a guy who is the total package.
“I want them to know that J.J. Matijevic is much more than a spectacular player. He’s also a spectacular person.”
First Published: May 26, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
