Talk:Matthew J White

Merged
NOTE Due to an error there were two articles on this person and they were subsequently merged. Here is the old article (which was titled Matthew Joseph White). You can use it to improve this article if you wish.


 * For other persons named Matt White, see Matt White.

Matthew Joseph White (born August 19, 1977 in Pittsfield, MA), commonly known as Matt White, is a professional minor league baseball player currently signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. White is known for his recent discovery of Goshen stone on a piece of property he bought in 2003. The amount of the rare mineral is believed to be worth approximately 2 billion US Dollars.

Professional baseball career
White, a pitcher, is a career minor leaguer who has played with eight different baseball organizations and participated in more than 250 minor league games. White played briefly in the major leagues with teams such as the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners pitching a meager total of 9.2 innings. In December of 2006 White signed a minor leaque contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is currently attempting to make their major league team by trying out in spring training. At the age of 29 White is relatively old for a minor leaguer attempting to make the jump into the big leagues, however despite the recent discovery and subsequent windfall White has maintained that he has no plans to retire from baseball. White is considered a longshot to make the team.

Goshen stone discovery
In 2003 White bought a 50 acre plot of land from his great-aunt for $50,000 dollars so that she could afford a nursing home. The property, located in small town Cummington, Massachusetts (home to approximately 1,000 residents), originally didn't seem to have much value at the time. However in clearing the land with the purpose of building a home, White commented, "We kept digging up these flat rocks. And we didn't really know what was going on." The rocks turned out to be Goshen stone, a valuable landscaping stone. The mineral sells for approximately $100 dollars a ton and White's property was estimated to contain around 24 million tons of the mineral according to a local geologist. The mineral was analyzed by a local university professor who estimated that it was formed about 400 million years ago. The event made national news appearing on the headlines of shows such as The Today Show and Pardon the Interruption. On Pardon the Interruption, show host Tony Kornheiser likened White to a real life version of Jed Clampett of the US television show The Beverly Hillbillies, who inadvertently discovers oil in his backyard while hunting by merely shooting at the ground. White has attempted to remain focused on baseball despite the swirl of media publicity surrounding the discovery, which he recently admitted has been difficult. White has not yet announced plans for the property although he has indicated he might either sell it, or make a Quarry on the property to harvest the mineral which would be run by his brother and father.

Rock Career?
That a cute section header name. :-) DavidRF 18:29, 19 March 2007 (UTC)