Chris Widger

One of the last full-time catchers in the truncated history of the Montreal Expos and a backup backstop for the World Series champion 2005 Chicago White Sox, Chris Widger parlayed below-average production into a 10-year major-league career with four teams and later successfully managed in the minors.

Widger came from an athletic family as “his uncle, Mike, played with the Montreal Alouettes and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League from 1970-78.”1 His father, Bill, worked for more than three decades for DuPont as a mechanic and along with his wife, Doris, raised Chris and his sister, Toni.2

Having attended Pennsville Memorial High School in New Jersey and George Mason University in Virginia, Widger was picked in the third round of the 1992 amateur draft by Seattle. Considered a candidate for the 1992 Olympic team,3 Widger lost out to Charles Johnson and Jason Varitek.

At George Mason, Widger as of 2021 ranked among school leaders in batting (18th at .334), hits (22nd with 200), doubles (tied for ninth with 52), triples (tied for 24th with 6), homers (7th with 32), runs (15th with 142), RBIs (7th with 149), total bases (13th with 360), walks (20th with 82), slugging (tied for 11th at .602), on-base percentage (19th at .418), and putouts (11th with 758).4 Only five other George Mason players besides Widger have made the majors.

“From my first day, I was lucky to start as a freshman,” Widger said. “I was allowed to make my own mistakes. I was allowed to call my own game (as a catcher). I think I was more prepared for pro ball.”5

Widger showed steady improvement as a professional, progressing from the Bellingham Mariners of the Northwest League in 1992 to the Riverside Pilots of the California League in 1993 to the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League in 1994 to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League in 1995. His OPS went up each year except in 1993, ranging from .731 to .817. Widger debuted with Seattle on June 23, 1995. In his third game, he got his first hit, off Kevin Gross, “a solid single to right-center field.”6

Widger appeared in 23 games and batted .200 in 49 plate appearances. He drove in two runs, scored twice, and had one home run. He handled 65 fielding chances – primarily as a catcher – without an error.

He spent most of 1996 with Triple-A Tacoma, where he hit .304 in 97 games, with a .988 fielding percentage, and got into eight games with Seattle, going 2-for-11.

After having a bone spur removed from his elbow7 in the offseason, Widger spent most of 1996 with Tacoma although he did play in eight games for Seattle. Along with two other players, Widger reportedly would have gone to Baltimore for lefty hurler David Wells8 before the Orioles killed the deal.9 This move represented a stay of execution as Widger soon left the Mariners for another southpaw pitcher in a momentous personal and professional offseason.

On October 29, 1996, Seattle traded Widger, Trey Moore, and Matt Wagner to Montreal for Jeff Fassero and Alex Pacheco. The Sporting News characterized the inclusion of Widger as “the key in the deal.”10

Widger married Theresa Kidwell on December 27, 1996.11 They had two children together, a boy named C.J. and a daughter named Ashlynn. The marriage ended in divorce. Chris later married Whitney, and they had a son named Skylar.

The trade to Montreal brought Widger to the city where his uncle had played and, after his CFL career had ended, was a part-owner of the Longest Yard, a downtown Montreal bar.12

Widger played more games at catcher than any of his teammates for each of his four seasons with the Expos. He got off to a hot start with the bat in Montreal with an .830 OPS after his first 20 games. On May 16, 1997, the Expos beat the Giants 14-13; Widger went 4-for-5 with a double, triple, and 5 RBIs. “He’s always been able to handle the fastball in. What he’s starting to do now is use his strength to go to the other field,” said hitting instructor Tommy Harper.13

Widger ended 1997 with a .693 OPS and threw out just 23 of 139 would-be basestealers. “I know a lot of people keep mentioning that part of the problem is a lot of our pitchers are slow to the plate, but it still comes down on me,” he said. “A lot of … errors were just me messing up my mechanics and throwing the ball wildly.”14

Widger turned 27 in 1998, and proving the Bill James analysis asserting that that age represents the peak for players, set career highs in games (125), plate appearances (448), at-bats (417), homers (15), and stolen bases (6). He managed to attain these milestones despite suffering from various ailments15 that culminated in a sprained ligament in his left thumb16 that ended his season on September 9. While Widger’s caught-stealing percentage more than doubled from 17 percent in 1997 to a career-best 36 percent in 1998, he led the National League with 14 passed balls in the latter campaign. He drove in 53 runs, ranking fifth on the Expos. Manager Felipe Alou called Widger “the team’s most improved player.”17

In an ominous sign for the future of the Montreal franchise, the Expos played two games in Washington before the 1999 season. Having spent his college years near DC, Widger spoke enthusiastically in evaluating the exhibition experience: “It’s nice to play in an area that has the type of baseball fans that we have here. I’ve been to Redskins games … and the atmosphere is outstanding. If something happens to Montreal, I hope we’d come here.”18

Widger’s final full season with the Expos represented the pinnacle of his offensive prowess “because of longer stretches of rest when [Michael] Barrett sees action behind the plate.”19 He set personal bests in hits (101), doubles (24), and RBIs (56). Widger’s slash line marks (.264/.325/.441) also represented peaks as did his OPS+ (94). With a younger and cheaper player poised to play every day, Montreal would move on from Widger less than five years before the franchise moved on to Washington: In June 1999, Stephanie Myles, a beat writer covering the Expos, observed, “It seems fairly obvious … Barrett will be the team’s everyday catcher for years to come.”20 Her analysis began to come true via an August 2000 trade.

On July 18, 1999, David Cone threw a perfect game in Yankee Stadium against Montreal, with Widger batting seventh. Cone “was amazing, He had a great fastball and his slider just kept getting better,” Widger said after striking out twice.21

Widger had surgery on his left knee after the 1999 season,22 but that did not deter teams from trying to trade for him. The Yankees sought his services as a backup to Jorge Posada.23 The Expos on August 8, 2000, instead traded him back to the Mariners for players to be named later (eventually Sean Spencer and Terrmel Sledge). Having played just 31 games over his first two Seattle seasons, Widger appeared in just 10 games in his second stint, with only one hit – a solo homer. Widger made his biggest impact in a simulated game. Turning around to hit lefty for the first time since high school, he smacked a shot that broke the kneecap of Jamie Moyer,24 ensuring that the 13-game winner would not pitch in the playoffs.

After shoulder surgery, Widger played in only a handful of minor-league games for Seattle in 2001 before the still-interested Yankees signed him as a free agent in 2002. “It’s been a long road to get back here,” he said, “and now that it’s over it was worth it because this was where I wanted to be.”25

Accordingly, Widger expressed no bitterness about the end of his second Seattle tenure: “I kind of expected it. They had an option they could have used on me, but that’s a lot of money for a guy coming off having his shoulder reconstructed twice. Plus, they probably wanted to have a left-handed bat there (as the second catcher), so there was no reason to have me and Danny (Wilson).”26

Widger played in 21 games for New York in 2002, debuting with the team on July 4. Prior to the call-up, he had purchased a house big enough for his wife, two children, brother-in-law, and five nieces because he still had family in New Jersey. His sister Toni, a nurse, had died in 2001 at the age of 36.

In limited action, Widger produced for New York. In 25 plate appearances in July, he hit .304 with 5 RBIs. In 26 plate appearances in August, he hit .385 and slugged .500. But, wrote a New York sportswriter, “playing sparingly does have its drawbacks and Widger experienced them in the Yankees’ 6-2 loss to the Rangers [on August 25] at the Stadium. ‘This was the first time I caught Andy [Pettitte] in a regular season game,’ said Widger. … ‘I thought we worked well together … but the results weren’t there.’”27

Widger did not play in the 2002 postseason, and the Yankees again signed him as a free agent due to his “decent bat and – quite important – … placid demeanor and excellent work ethic.”28 Widger’s mood decidedly soured after New York brought in John Flaherty to compete with him. “It’s like a slap in the face,” he said. “… What the hell did I do to lose the job I had last year?”29

Electing to go with Flaherty, New York released Widger on April 7, 2003. The Cardinals brought him back to the National League five days later. Widger played 44 games for St. Louis in 2003 with a poor .235/.279/.324 slash line and then lost his roster spot in 2004 to Cody McKay, the son of Dave McKay, who served as the first-base coach of the Cardinals from 1996 to 2011. Again, Widger seemed hardly sanguine about the switch in words that echoed those he uttered after wearing pinstripes: Tony La Russa, the St. Louis manager, “called me into his office and made it clear that the job was up for grabs. How that happened I don’t know. Nothing changed from last year. They told me how happy they were with how I ran the pitching staff. I don’t understand.”30

Widger had seemingly developed a sense of entitlement and had failed to appreciate that a team would not hesitate to jettison a backup catcher past the prime of a less-than-stellar career for reasons both fair (Flaherty was a better player) and unfair (McKay’s relationships likely played a role in the release of Widger).

In 2004 Widger played independent ball for the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League, a spot that returned him close to his family during its time of need. At the age of 33, Widger faced long odds in returning to the majors after his unhappy endings in both New York and St. Louis.

He went to 2005 spring training as a nonroster invitee of the White Sox. Backing up A.J. Pierzynski, Widger had an unexpected revival. He enjoyed playing for manager Ozzie Guillén. “What you see is what you get,” said Widger. “… He let his backup guys play a lot. If I was up in the seventh inning of a tie game, I didn’t have to look over my shoulder for a pinch-hitter.”31

After failing to homer in the majors from 2001 to 2004, Widger hit four in 2005. After last appearing in the playoffs a decade earlier during the 1995 American League Championship Series, Widger sat out the first 10 games of the 2005 playoffs before unexpectedly playing in the third game of the World Series via a double switch in the bottom of the ninth inning that inserted him for former Expo Dustin Hermanson in the ninth spot of the batting order.

Widger struck out swinging against Houston closer Brad Lidge in the top of the 10th and drew a walk from Chad Qualls in the top of the 13th before a double play took him off the bases. In the top of the 14th, Geoff Blum, another ex-Montrealer, homered off Ezequiel Astacio with two outs to give the White Sox a 6-5 lead. The score stayed the same when Widger came up with the bases loaded. He took five pitches32 to earn an RBI on the bases-loaded walk that put Chicago up 7-5. Widger caught the final six innings of the game, which ended 7-5, with the White Sox completing a sweep the next evening. The transformation of Widger from a past-his-prime player trying to hang on in an independent league to a contributor to a World Series champion was complete as well.

Singling out the team’s “guys in there that nobody wanted,” and others who were “fringe players,” Widger said, “Here we are, sweeping the World Series with … castaways, misfits. It makes it that much sweeter. We didn’t have the best talent. We had the best team.”33

Widger started 2006 with Chicago and hit the last of his 55 career homers on May 15 off Scott Baker in a 7-3 win in Minnesota. He had homered off four pitchers who won a Cy Young Award: Chris Carpenter, Tom Glavine, Barry Zito and [Randy] Johnson.34 The White Sox released him in July, and Widger joined the Orioles in August. In his first game with Baltimore, Widger faced the Yankees. His old team beat his new one, 6-1, but the losing pitcher praised his new backstop. “Pretty good,” Rodrigo López said of working with Widger, “I like him a lot. He had a lot of good ideas, the way I like to pitch. We worked on the same page.”35

Widger played in his last major-league game on September 15 and had just two hits in 17 at-bats for the Orioles. He returned to Camden, at first serving as pitching coach for 2013 and 2014 as well as having two hitless at-bats at the age of 43 for the Riversharks. In 2015 he became the team’s manager. “I am excited to be managing the Riversharks, a home team for me, but more importantly a team who gave me a chance to resurrect my career at a time when I was nearly out of baseball,” Widger said.36

Camden went 56-83 under Widger and moved in 2016 to New Britain. Staying with the team seemed less attractive once it left New Jersey, so Widger contacted another former George Mason player in the Kansas City organization to secure a part-time coaching slot with Wilmington in the Carolina League.

Widger did far better in his second stint as manager, leading the Burlington Royals of the Appalachian League to a 39-29 record and a second-place finish in 2019. In 2021 Baseball America named him as Minor League Manager of the Year for skippering the Quad City River Bandits to the championship of the High-A Central League. Alec Zumwalt, Kansas City’s director of hitting performance/player development, said of Widger, “His players love playing for him and … he creates a winning environment in the clubhouse that plays out on the field.”37

The Rangers drafted Chris’s son C.J. in the 10th round in 2021. “I’m happy he did it on his own, did it his way,” said Widger. “I’m a little excited that he’s not with Kansas City so that he could be on another team and do his thing. … He’s always loved baseball, but I never pushed him into it.”38 The younger Widger advanced to the Rangers of the Arizona Complex League at the Rookie classification in 2023. A 24-year-old lefty reliever, he went 1-0 with a save in seven games. In 2024, he received a promotion to Modesto of the Class-A California League.

Chris Widger made the jump to Double-A ball in 2022, managing the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League. The team went 58-79, which ended his tenure with the Kansas City organization. “Probably I wasn’t analytical enough or was maybe too, quote, unquote, old school,” Widger said.39 He returned to New Jersey in 2023 to manage the Sussex County Miners of Augusta in the Frontier League to a 55-40 record.

Notes

1 Guide 1997 [Montreal Expos media guide], 232.

2 Melissa Isacson, “A Rock in Role at Home,” Chicago Tribune, October 16, 2005.

3 Frank Hughes, “Patriots Jostle Virginia Tech, 10-1,” Washington Post, April 8, 1992: F2.

4 “George Mason University Career Baseball Records,” s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/georgemason.sidearmsports.com/documents/2022/2/16/Base_2022_Career_Baseball_Records_Updated_Dec_12_2019_.pdf (accessed December 6, 2023).

5 David Driver, “Chris Widger Adds to the Mason-to-Royals Pipeline,” gomason.com/news/2016/5/12/210948491, May 12, 2016 (last accessed December 15, 2023).

6 Jim Street, “Seattle Mariners,” The Sporting News, July 10, 1995: 38.

7 Jim Street, “Seattle Mariners,” The Sporting News, December 4, 1995: 53.

8 Mark Maske, “Sooner or Later, Bonilla or Wells Are Likely to Be Dealt by Orioles,” Washington Post, July 29, 1996: C2.

9 Bob Nightengale, “With Lasorda Out, Job Is Russell’s to Win or Lose,” The Sporting News, August 12, 1996: 18.

10 Jeff Blair, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, November 11, 1996: 37.

11 Guide 1999 [Montreal Expos media guide], 246.

12 “Former Als Star Mike Widger, 67, Lived as Hard Off the Field as He Played on It,” Canadian Football League Alumni Association website, www.cflaa.ca/former-als-star-mike-widger-67-lived-as-hard-off-the-field-as-he-played-on-it/ (accessed December 6, 2023).

13 Jeff Blair, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, May 26, 1997: 36.

14 Jeff Blair, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, January 26, 1998: 42.

15 Widger had “asthma, migraines, and a bad back,” according to Stephanie Myles, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, July 20, 1998: 27. Shortly after this report appeared, Widger “strained his neck in a bench-clearing incident,” according to Myles, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, July 27, 1998: 34.

16 Stephanie Myles, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, September 28, 1998: 74.

17 Stephanie Myles, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, November 23, 1998: 57.

18 Camille Powell, “Expos-ing Their Wishes for the Future,” Washington Post, April 4, 1999: D9.

19 Stephanie Myles, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, August 30, 1999: 29.

20 Stephanie Myles, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, June 21, 1999: 31.

21 Dan Martin, “’spos Are in Awe of Dazzling David,” New York Post, July 19, 1999.

22 Guide 2000 [Montreal Expos media guide], 255.

23 George A. King III, “Bombers Eyeing Deal with Expos for Widger,” New York Post, April 25, 2000.

24 Larry LaRue, “Seattle Mariners,” The Sporting News, October 23, 2000: 59.

25 Sam Carchidi, “Pride of Pennsville Puts It in Perspective,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2002: D4.

26 “A Moment with … Chris Widger, Former Mariners Catcher,” Seattle-Post Intelligencer, March 4, 2002.

27 Dan Martin, “Widger Catching On; Spot Starts Work for Backup Backstop,” New York Post, August 26, 2002.

28 Ken Davidoff, “New York Yankees,” The Sporting News, December 16, 2002: 60.

29 Vic Ziegel, “Widger Can’t Mask Feelings About Role,” New York Daily News, March 11, 2003.

30 Joe Strauss, “Widger: La Russa ‘Didn’t Want Me,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 4, 2004.

31 Carl Barbati, “Widger Named as New Manager,” sussexcountyminers.com/widger-named-new-manager/ November 1, 2022 (last accessed December 15, 2023).

32 2005 World Series Game 3 White Sox @ Astros, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHYwcwtzdkk (accessed December 15, 2023).

33 Jon Paul Morosi, “ChiSox Won with Misfits and Castaways,” Seattle-Post Intelligencer, October 27, 2005.

34 Chris Kamka, “Remember That Guy? Chris Widger,” www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/remember-that-guy-chris-widger/320042/, October 18, 2019 (last accessed December 15, 2023).

35 Adam Kilgore, “Yankees Hit 4 Homers To Sink Lopez, Top O’s,” Washington Post, August 7, 2006: E8.

36 “‘Sharks Name Widger New Manager,” ism3.infinityprosports.com/ismdata/2014100700/std-sitebuilder/sites/201401/www/en/team/news/index.html?article_id=8&content_type=printable&plugin_id=news.front.system&block_id=5001, December 5, 2014 (last accessed December 15, 2023).

37 Bill Mitchell, “Chris Widger Named 2021 Minor League Baseball Manager Of The Year,” Baseball America, November 30, 2021.

38 Kevin Minnick, “The journey to pro baseball has been long, but Widger thrilled to see career continue,” NJ. com, July 13, 2021, www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2021/07/the-journey-to-pro-baseball-has-been-long-but-widger-thrilled-to-see-career-continue.html (accessed December 22, 2023).

39 Mark Singelais, “Widger, ’05 World Series Champ, leads Miners against ValleyCats,” [Albany] Times Union, August 19, 2023.