When Wid Matthews came to the Cubs in 1950, he arrived with a sterling reputation. An assistant to baseball wizard Branch Rickey with the Dodgers, he promised to return the Cubs to their glory days. He did do one thing that was long overdue before left town; he signed the first two African-American players in Cubs history--Ernie Banks and Gene Baker. Unfortunately, this was seven full seasons after Jackie Robinson had broken the color line, and three full seasons after Matthews arrived in Chicago. It was far too little, and far too late.

Wid Matthews had a knack for trades...that is, trades that helped the other team. He traded fan favorite Andy Pafko, all-star pitcher Johnny Schmitz, and two other players to the Dodgers for catcher Bruce Edwards (who had a grand total of 250 at-bats as a Cub), Joe Hatten (a pitcher with an ERA over 5), outfielder Gene Hermanski (who managed a total of 8 home runs as a Cub) and Eddie Miskus (the main player the Cubs wanted--a mediocre shortstop who never hit higher than .251 in his four Cubs seasons). That deal was so bad people in Chicago wondered if he was still on Branch Rickey's payroll.

He also traded Smoky Burgess, who could have been the Cubs starting catcher for a decade or more for two guys who played a total of 23 games.

Matthews simply wasn't a good judge of talent. When asked how he rated prospects, he said… "When I shake hands with a boy and he has a good grip, that's one of the essentials. Then I pat him on the shoulder to see how muscular he is."

In 1952 he was holding a press conference before the season, predicting things were just about to turn around, when PK Wrigley walked into the press conference and ripped Matthews in front of the press, saying "I believe it's about time we stopped our daydreaming and wishful thinking and faced things as they are."

When people starting hanging Matthews in effigy in 1956, Wrigley finally faced things as they were and got rid of him.