Fran Matthews

Who is Fran Matthews?

Francis Oliver "Fran" Matthews was a baseball first baseman in the Negro Leagues. Matthews was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he attended the prestigious Rindge Technical School. By the time he graduated in 1935, Matthews ability as one of the best baseball players in the Greater Boston area led to him being recognized as the first black captain of the Rindge Baseball team.

From 1935 to 1946, Matthews played with several Negro League teams, mostly the Boston Royal Giants and the Newark Eagles and one game with the Kansas City Monarchs at Fenway Park in 1943. The wear of travel and the low salaries of the Negro Leagues got to Matthews forcing him to decide to return to Boston in 1942 to work at the Watertown Arsenal. He never left baseball though. Matthews starred as one of three black players on the Watertown Arsenal Boston Park League team for many years.

Matthews served in the United States Armed Forces during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. While serving in Vietnam, Matthews was wounded by shrapnel in his leg and received a purple heart.