Mizzou Baseball Diaspora: Mathis to Japan

♦ PawSox pitchers Duckworth, Mathis opt to leave team for Japan (Woonsocket Call)

With the countdown at just over five weeks remaining in the 2012 campaign for the Pawtucket Red Sox, pitchers Brandon Duckworth and Doug Mathis decided to set in motion a specific stipulation that allows them to seek employment on the other side of the world in Japan.
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Asked if there was a confluence of factors that led to Duckworth and Mathis packing their bags and heading for Japan, Crockett answered, “I don’t exactly know what the motivation was, but it’s something they wanted to do and were certainly within their rights to do that.”

It’s believed that Duckworth and Mathis asked for their releases independent of one another. Japan’s regular season concludes on Friday, October 5, meaning the two will be afforded an additional month to pitch and collect a paycheck. The International League season concludes on Labor Day with playoffs lasting almost two weeks.

The seeds for the departure of two pitchers who were mainstays in Pawtucket’s rotation were first planted last Friday when the 29-year-old Mathis was placed on the temporary inactive list retroactive to July 18. Duckworth, 36, followed a similar course of action two days after Mathis’ removal from the active roster, his move retroactive to July 21.